Agent Orimura
by Generatedname
Summary: It wasn't Chifuyu who rescued her brother from the kidnapping attempt, but rather another Organization, one with its own agenda concerning the Infinite Stratos... and the world. A more realistic, and slightly darker take on the ISverse. Rating subject to change depending on what I decide to write.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I have decided to take a break from my Harry Potter fanfic and start working on this little idea set in the Infinite Stratos universe. It's been banging around in my head for a while now, and after much deliberation I have decided to put fingers to keyboard and start typing this out. This particular story was inspired by my inability to suspend disbelief while watching certain media. For example, when I saw the Jurassic World trailer, my only thought was 'Who the fuck sends in infantry, without air or armored support, to fight creatures better adapted to the terrain than we are?' While I haven't seen the actual movie, that sentence sums up my thoughts on the trailer.**

 **The anime Infinite Stratos left several similar questions in my head after I finished watching it. Questions like "Why do IS suits only accept women as pilots (excluding our hyper-dense protagonist, of course)?" or "What happened to the original IS prototypes, namely the ones designed for space exploration?" and of course "Given how far up their asses their heads are located, can the world's governments and militaries see daylight?"**

 **My personal answers to these questions helped shape this fic which, with a slight dash of AU, takes a more realistic, at least in my opinion, view of the ISverse. And now, without further rambling on my part, on with the show!**

 **Chapter 1**

The sun was already high in the sky by the time the strike team arrived at its destination. Composed of thirty-six men and women, the team took stock of the situation approximately two and a half kilometers away from the compound that held their target.

"This is it. I am sure all of you know what we have to do already, but let me re-iterate it one last time. Our job is to move in, save the kid, and eliminate all hostiles in the area. We are then to search the area for important files pertaining to both this particular terrorist cell, and the organization Phantom Task as a whole." The leader of the team, a middle-aged Russian man by the name of Giorgi Stukanov addressed his subordinates.

"I'm not going to bore you with some fancy speech on how if we fail this mission, our organization will fall apart before it has even began, or how if any harm comes to the boy, his older sister will find a way to bring us back from the dead so that she could kill us a second time before moving on to the Japanese government once she finds out. Instead, let us get down to business. Yukari, what kind of defenses should we expect?"

The Russian spoke to a young Japanese woman encased in a bulky mech suit, an Infinite Stratos, or more specifically, an Uchigane _,_ which was the Japanese government's cutting edge second generation Mass-Production IS (MPIS).

The MPIS' pilot, Yukari Fujimura responded a few seconds later after using her suit's hyper-sensor to investigate the terrorist compound.

"I see about twenty or so guards, four on watchtowers, likely snipers, and the rest patrolling the surroundings. There are also two IS suits, an Uchigane and what I believe to be a Raphael Revive."

"Good, that means our intel was correct. Yuri, David, do you have a line of fire on that Raphael?" The two named operatives knelt down and took out their scopes, sans weapon. After a few moments, they nodded. They had a line of fire. The two soldiers were the key to the strike team's success, as they were the only two trained in the operation of the Japanese-supplied experimental Anti-IS rifles. The two weapons bore a passing resemblance to the World War 2 era Solothurn S-18/100 Anti-Tank rifles, having a similar caliber of 20mm and a tripod support. What the Solothurn did not have, however, was a pair of thick cables, that were quickly connected to a large and heavy looking box. This box was the weapon's power source, as while the Solothurn was a gunpowder based rifle, the Type-2 AIS Rifle was a railgun, powered by the same large battery that fueled the Uchigane MPIS. This in turn made the experimental rifle easily capable of punching through a tank's armor, or several feet of concrete with a single shot. It would take three to five hits to bring down the defensive shield of a Mass Production IS, and at least one more to kill the pilot or destroy the vehicle.

The weapon system was also riddled with flaws due to its experimental status. It was large and heavy, making it almost impossible to fire accurately without it being propped against the ground. In addition to its bulk, it was also extremely loud and visible when it fired, with the heavy Tungsten shot being accelerated to hypersonic speeds, going so fast that the very air around it was ignited. Finally, the most pressing flaw of the weapon was the immense amount of heat generated from each shot, coupled with an inadequate cooling system. The weapon's magazine carried fifteen rounds, and the battery that powered it easily held enough for twice as many shots. However, each shot heated up the barrel to an immense degree, with the barrel easily reaching 500 degrees Celsius from a single shot. To prevent the barrel from melting, the cooling jacket around the barrel would be flooded with liquid nitrogen, allowing for next to no delay between shots. The only problem with this was that the constant cycle of heating and cooling would quickly warp the barrel and render the weapon unusable. The Type-2's users would be lucky to get off ten shots, let alone empty the magazine, before needing to change out the weapon's barrel, a long and complex process that could easily break the weapon if done incorrectly. The gun had never been fired outside of a testing range for this particular reason, as the JSDF had deemed the weapon too unreliable for combat use.

"Good. Set up your guns here, then keep them trained on the Raphael, that thing can take out our force in seconds if we're not careful. Yukari, keep them covered, those IS suits will almost certainly charge at their position once the shooting starts. The rest of you, on me. Once I give the signal and the Raphael is down, we'll move in. Understood?" Giorgi asked. The rest of the squad murmured their assent, and the team departed from the vantage point, while the two Type-2 operators set up their weapons.

"How the hell did Phantom Task get their hands on a goddamn Raphael Revive, of all things?" David Goldberg said after a few seconds, keeping the French MPIS in his sights.

"The French have sold export models of the Revive to damn near half the countries in the world. They probably stole it from one of those." Yuri Kelberg replied.

"And the Uchigane? The Japanese haven't been exporting those."

"Japan's a hotspot of Phantom Task activity, there's twice as many cells of them there as there are in any other country in the world. They have the numbers to attempt and succeed at a raid on a Japanese facility."

"Damn." The American muttered, his eyes never leaving the French IS over two kilometers away.

The silence between the two men stretched on for several long minutes. Then, their earpieces buzzed, and the voice of Giorgi Stukanov rang in their ears.

"We're in position. Take out the Raphael, then target the Uchigane, if able." Orders recieved.

Almost simultaneously, two triggers were depressed, and two equally loud 'CRACK's echoed across the Kamchatka peninsula. Two flaming streaks flew through the air and, less than a second after being fired, the two 20mm tungsten shells struck home. The French MPIS' shields glowed a bright blue for a few moments, while the two railguns hissed, releasing clouds of vapor into the air as their cooling systems engaged.

'CRACK!'

'Hissss.'

Two more shells streaked through the air, and the French IS' shields flickered and died, shocking the pilot into action. Flying into the air, the terrorist piloted mech suit turned towards the pair, and even from more than two thousand meters away, David knew the IS had spotted him. Then, a bullet punched through the terrorist's chest, the woman's heart being replaced by a bloody hole as a .50 caliber bullet fired by a sniper closer to the compound took her life. The now pilotless IS plummeted to the ground, and David zoomed out, and began searching for the other hostile IS.

The sound of a thousand bullwhips indicated that Yuri had found the target, and David watched the trail of fire left behind by his partner's shot, following it to his target. Said bullet punched through one of the concrete walls surrounding the compound and hit the IS hiding behind it.

As the mech-suit's pilot was startled into the air, David took aim and fired, and through the scope he saw the pilot's face contorted in panic as the shot just barely missed her. That was to be expected, as she had just witnessed a supposedly invincible weapon shot out of the sky in a matter of seconds by unknown assailants. That was when the woman's fight-or-flight response was triggered, and her brain chose to fight, the Uchigane starting a beeline towards the two railgun operators' position.

Another crack indicated that Yuri had fired his fourth shot, the streak of fire missing the IS and impacting the supports of one of the compound's watchtowers, sending the structure tumbling to the ground. David's next shot hit the mark, and he was greeted with a flash of blue as the Uchigane's shields absorbed the shot.

'CRACK!'

Another shell hit the Japanese IS, courtesy of Yuri. At that point, the IS had already closed two kilometers' worth of distance. David would have time for one more shot, which he fired. At that range, it was impossible to miss and the Uchigane's shields glowed blue again. Being a melee oriented IS, the Uchigane's shields were easily the strongest of all second-generation Mass-Production models, as the Japanese IS needed to be able to withstand incoming fire as it closed with the enemy. Thus, while it had only taken four hits to take down the Raphael's shields, the Uchigane's defenses were still up, even after Yuri landed a fifth hit on the suit, which was now at point-blank range. That was when Yukari shot into the air from her concealed position behind the two men, her IS' rail pistol blazing. The Uchigane's rail pistol was included into the design as an afterthought, and as such was a very poor weapon for use against other IS suits. However, with her opponent's shields already weakened by the Type-2 rifles, it only took two hits for Yukari to drop her panicking opponent's shields, giving her the opportunity to drive her suit's sword into the terrorist's body.

"The IS suits are down, I repeat, the IS suits are down." David reported, before he put his eye back to his scope and began looking for targets. While the Type-2 was designed for use against IS suits, it also made a very powerful anti-materiel rifle.

* * *

The room was pitch-black, so much so that even without the blindfold, Orimura Ichika wasn't sure if he could see his fingers. That is, he wasn't sure if he could see them had they not been tied behind his back. However, the ten-year old Japanese boy's thoughts were surprisingly not focused on his current situation. Instead, he was thinking of his sister, Chifuyu Orimura, who was in Germany at the moment, participating in the Second Mondo Grosso IS tournament. He paid no heed to the fact that he was bound, gagged and blindfolded, nor did he even seem to care that he was even kidnapped in the first place. His only thought was 'I hope Chifuyu-nee wins again.'

A distant rattle and the sound of voices snapped him out of his thoughts. The rattle seemed somewhat familiar to him, but he couldn't figure out from where...

The sounds continued for a few long minutes, then slowly began to peter out. Then, Ichika heard the voices growing louder, as if the speaker was right outside the room. He heard the doorknob rattle. Evidently, the locked door displeased the speaker, as the voice barked something out. Then, three loud reports sounded out, and even through the blindfold, Ichika saw light enter the room.

"He's in here!" Ichika heard a man call out in Russian, one of the many languages Chifuyu had made sure to drill into him.

The man approached him, and Ichika instinctively curled away even further into the corner where he had been sitting.

"Don't worry, we're here to rescue you. You're safe now." The man spoke in accented Japanese. Then, a hand grabbed and removed the blindfold. Ichika squinted in pain as his eyes were exposed to light for the first time in hours. The gag was removed next, and finally the bindings were cut loose, allowing Ichika to stand shakily to his feet.

"Come with me. We're going to get you out of here." The man said, before turning and heading out of the room. As he reached the exit, he saw Ichika still standing in the corner.

"Come on, we haven't got all day!" The man urged.

"Did... did Chifuyu-nee win?" Ichika asked hesitantly in Russian.

"From what I heard, the finals are later today and she's made it in. If we hurry, we can get you home with plenty of time to spare for you to see her win." That was all it took for Ichika to follow the man out of the room where he had been kept for the past few hours.

The pair made their way out of the compound, passing by several men clad in military gear and toting rifles. A few times, Ichika saw men carrying large bags. Something big seemed to be contained within.

At one point, Ichika stopped walking. When his rescuer turned around to see what was holding him up, he saw the boy staring at a red stain against a wall.

"Come on Ichika, if we don't hurry, your sister might realize you are missing and forfeit the tournament." That got the boy moving again, but at a much more sedate pace.

Soon, the pair exited the main building and watched a giant twin-rotor helicopter, a CH-47 Chinook, landed outside the compound.

"That's our ride home." The man said, as he and Ichika exited the compound before boarding the helicopter. As the vehicle lifted off the ground, Ichika looked out the window and caught a glimpse of the building that he had been held in. It was a simple concrete structure, surrounded by a low concrete wall topped with barbed wire. Four watchtowers, one of which had collapsed, were placed at the corners of the wall, and another section of the wall had collapsed, likely the way through which his rescuers had entered. As Ichika looked on, two more helicopters descended on the compound. Soon however, the helicopter turned away and the compound began to fade into the distance, and was soon gone from view. He looked around, and saw that he was alone in the helicopter. He wondered where his rescuer had gone.

* * *

"Are you crazy?" Was the first word out of Giorgi Stukanov's mouth as he stood in the passage between the transport compartment and the cockpit of the Chinook helicopter.

"I assure you that I am perfectly sane." The voice of his superior officer in the Organization replied over the radio.

"Then explain to me exactly why you want to bring a ten year old boy into this!" Giorgi replied.

"The boy is young, impressionable, and likely has a favorable opinion of us. In short, he is perfect recruit material."

"You are asking me to help you bring a ten year old into a covert military organization!"

"Need I remind you that our organization is not purely military? I have no intention of violating international law and turning him into a child soldier, I simply want a pair of ears in the Orimura family, a family that, I must remind you, is very close to the Doctor. Should he accept, the boy will not even touch a gun until he is old enough to undergo mandatory firearm training."

"I still don't like this. We're taking his future away from him, after all. Kids his age should be playing and studying, not being groomed into the next generation of secret operatives!"

"Normally I would agree with you, but look at him. He has already been kidnapped by a terrorist organization, plus he is the only sibling of the Brunhilde! He already has a target painted on his back! The way I see it, we're giving him a way to protect himself should someone try to get at his sister through him."

The Russian Ex-military officer grumbled for a few moments before speaking again.

"And if he refuses?"

"Then we shall proceed as normal."

"Fine. I'll go tell him about the coming detour."

"See to it. Command out."

At that, Giorgi lowered the speaker and, after a few choice curses, walked back into the transport compartment. The boy startled at his entrance, but soon calmed down after seeing who it was.

"I must apologize, but someone important wishes to speak with you. We will be making a short detour before we take you home." Giorgi said as he sat down across from his charge.

"Will I still get to see my sister win?" The boy asked.

"You really have a one-track mind now, don't you? Hopefully this won't take too long, and we will have you home before the finals start."

The rest of the short flight passed in silence. After what seemed like hours, the helicopter began to descend. Looking out the window, Giorgi saw a now familiar island come into view.

The Organization's headquarters were being constructed on the island of Urup just south of the Urup strait. Lying between the Kamchatka peninsula and the northernmost islands of Japan, the island wasn't much to look at from the air. A small fleet of freighters sat offshore, ferrying construction supplies to the crews ashore, who carried them into one of the many hidden tunnels dotting the coastline.

On the very northernmost tip of the island, an old runway was visible, and that was where the helicopter descended to. The northernmost tip of the runway ended in an octagonal pad, upon which the helicopter touched down inside a white square, clearly a new addition.

As soon as the rotors had stopped moving, they were quickly folded back into a compact position, after which an elevator, similar to the ones used on aircraft carriers, activated. Soon, the helicopter was completely underground, hidden away from the world in a dimly lit subterranean hangar, one that was still clearly under construction.

The ramp at the rear of the helicopter was dropped, and Giorgi stepped out, motioning for his charge to follow.

They were met by a pair of guards, who waited just outside the boundaries of the elevator.

"We'll take care of him from here." One of the men spoke.

"Come on kid, go with them. They won't bite." Giorgi said when the boy hesitated. Somewhat reluctantly, the ten-year old followed the pair of guards deeper into the facility. Giorgi stared after them, his face impassive.

* * *

Ichika tried hard to ignore the presence of the two soldiers around him as he looked around at the underground base he had found himself in. It was clearly still under construction, with exposed wiring being lit by incandescent bulbs present all around him. He didn't know how far he walked, only that at one point he found himself on a catwalk running around the rim of a giant cavern. Construction crews suspended on cables worked on erecting new catwalks, or were excavating into the surrounding rock.

"In here." One of the guards spoke, gesturing to a small door built into the side of the cavern. One guard opened the door, allowing him entry, and Ichika found himself alone in a small room, lit by a single incandescent bulb. Looking around, he saw that the two guards had remained outside.

"Orimura Ichika, I presume?" The voice came from a speaker sitting on a desk in the center of the room.

"Y-yes! That's me!" Ichika stuttered out a reply in English as he sat down.

"Good. Now, I was told that you want to be home on time to watch your sister win, so I will make this quick. What do you know about the organization that kidnapped you?" The voice asked.

"Nothing." Ichika replied, somewhat despondently.

"I see. You were kidnapped by a terrorist organization known as Phantom Task. They did so in an attempt to get to your sister, Orimura Chifuyu, for reasons that remain unknown to us. Perhaps they were hoping to use you as bait to lure her into some form of disadvantageous engagement, but that is not important for now."

"Chifuyu-nee! Does she know I was kidnapped?" Ichika panicked.

"No, the Japanese government acted quickly and suppressed the information while mounting this rescue attempt. They wanted her to win as much as you do, after all, and had she found out, she would have forfeited the match to come and save you." At that, Ichika's face fell.

"So she would have given up in order to save me?"

"Yes, exactly."

"I'm so weak..." Ichika muttered, more to himself than to the speaker, but his words were caught anyway. On the other end of the line, a smile formed upon the Organization leader's face.

"So you think you're weak now, do you?" The man asked.

"I am... I let myself get kidnapped and almost cost Chifuyu-nee the Mondo Grosso finals."

"Well then, I believe I have a business proposition for you. After all, while Phantom Task has failed in this attempt, what is to stop them from trying again? I would like to offer you the Organization's protection."

"What do you mean?"

"It is simple. Our organization protects its own, so by becoming a member you automatically receive our protection."

"So you want me to become a member of your organization?"

"Exactly."

"But why? I'm just a ten-year old boy, I have no special skills whatsoever. I can't fight, and I can't pilot an IS."

A few seconds passed, then a screen on the wall of the room lit up.

"These are your most recent grades in school, are they not? Tell me what you see." And indeed, the screen showed Ichika's latest report card.

"Straight A's. Chifuyu-nee wouldn't settle for anything less!" Ichika said with a small amount of pride.

"There you have it. Our organization is not all military, so you simply need to offer your mind, and strength will come in time." The man said.

"Then I will do it." Ichika said with conviction. On the other end of the line, the man's smile grew. 'Hook, Line, and Sinker.'

"Good. Now, I assume you still wish to see your sister win? Then we will take you home for now. She will not return to Japan until three days from now though, so we shall hold your orientation tomorrow. Be ready by six in the morning, as that is when we shall arrive to collect you. Do not be late."

Ichika nodded, and turned to leave the room.

"Oh, and one more thing before you go..." The voice said.

"Yes?" Ichika replied.

"Much of our organization's strength comes from secrecy. If our enemies knew we existed, we would be vulnerable. As such, you are not to speak of this organization to anyone, understood? Failure to comply will result in expulsion from the organization, as well as further punishment depending on the scale of the breach." The voice said.

"I understand." Ichika gulped. What had he gotten himself into now?

"Glad to hear it. Now, Ops Commander Giorgi Stukanov is waiting outside the room. I understand that you are already acquainted with him, so he will be the one to pick you up tomorrow. You are dismissed, Recruit Orimura."

At that, the door swung open, revealing the man who had gotten him out of the Phantom Task compound. Ichika followed him out across the catwalk and into the helicopter hangar.

The pair boarded the Chinook, the ramp closing behind them, after which the elevator engaged, slowly lifting the pair towards the surface, revealing a sun that had just started to set. The helicopter's rotors unfolded, and soon the island was fading into the distance.

The transport compartment was silent for what seemed like hours. Then, the Ex-Spetsnaz Officer broke the silence, addressing Ichika in Russian.

"Why did you accept?" The Russian asked.

"Because I wanted to become strong. I don't want to be a burden on my sister any more." Ichika replied without hesitation. The man sighed.

"You really do respect your sister, don't you."

"Of course I do!" Ichika said, outraged that someone would think otherwise.

"I see. I hope you realize what you have done, Orimura Ichika. This isn't like some school club, that you can quit if you don't like it, or some James Bond film, full of high-tech gadgets and action." Giorgi paused, "Well, the high-tech part might be true eventually." The Russian admitted.

"I know." Ichika replied.

"No, I don't think you do. You have to understand that death is now much closer to you than it ever has been, save perhaps when you were in that compound, and it will remain your close companion for the rest of your time here. While not all of the Organization is military, its primary method of accomplishing tasks is through armed force. If you decide to join our combat branch, you must be prepared to take lives. If you become an engineer, then the things you build will be used to take lives. If you become a researcher, then the things you discover will be used to invent better ways of taking lives. Are you prepared to shoulder that burden?" Giorgi asked as shellshocked Ichika. Nearly a minute passed in silence.

"Is there no other way?" Ichika asked softly.

"After you accepted that offer, it became the only way."

"What... what would have happened if I refused?" Ichika asked.

"They would have injected you with a drug that would put you to sleep and cause short-term memory loss, thus erasing all knowledge you have of us as an organization. We would have then taken you back home, with the sedatives wearing off en-route. I would have told you that you simply fell asleep on the ride home, and we would have likely never seen each other again after I dropped you off in Tokyo. You would have been able to live a normal life, without this burden. Now however..." The man trailed off.

"How do you deal with it then?" Ichika asked.

"We all have our own way of rationalizing things. Personally, I think of those I've saved rather than those I've killed. The smiles of those I've rescued helps hide the blood staining my hands red. If it means saving the world, I would kill anyone, do anything, just to see the world continue living... even if it sees me as nothing but a monster. Why deny what I am..." The man trailed off again, lost in thought.

"I'm sorry." Ichika said softly.

"What for?"

"For taking the offer." Ichika murmured.

"It's too late to change the past, Ichika. The best you can do now is to focus on the best future you can possibly have."

With those words, the man was silent for the rest of the ride.

The sun was low in the sky by the time the helicopter arrived over Tokyo, and Ichika soon spotted his home, a large, traditional style building located some distance away from the main urban sprawl. The Chinook flew low over the building, making a wide circle as it came down just outside the house. As the ramp opened, Ichika immediately saw a young girl, about his age, standing in front of the house, a red haired boy by her side.

"Ichika-kun!" Rin, the twin tailed girl shouted as he exited the helicopter, the ramp closing up behind him. As the flying machine slowly ascended into the air, Ichika was hit by a brown-haired, Chinese cannonball wrapping her arms around him.

"I saw those men dragging you out of the house when I came to visit..." Huang Lingyin, or Rin as Ichika had nicknamed her, said as she cried into his shoulder.

"What happened to you man?" Dan Gotanda, the red haired boy, asked as he too walked over, "Rin comes up and calls me early in the morning saying that you've been kidnapped! We were so worried about you!"

"Well, it's nothing now. I'm alright, nothing bad happen-" 'WHACK!' Ichika's speech was interrupted as Rin smacked him over the head.

"Don't talk as if it was nothing! I thought that they had k-k-killed you! How could I marry you when you're dead!" Rin shouted, still crying.

"M-marry?" Ichika stuttered.

"You promised, didn't you?" Rin looked up at him, eyes wide and still glistening with tears.

Fortunately for Ichika, Dan chose that moment to butt in.

"Hey Rin? The finals for the second Mondo Grosso are starting soon, and I doubt your future husband wants to miss his sister flatten the opposition!" While his choice of words was poor, Dan succeeded in snapping Ichika out of his stupor.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Chifuyu-nee is still in the finals!"

At that, the trio ran into the house, and were soon watching Orimura Chifuyu reduce her opponent to a nervous wreck on the arena floor. It was well into the night that the pair departed, leaving Ichika alone in the house. Remembering how early he would need to wake up the following morning, as well as realizing just how tired he was, Ichika didn't even bother finding a bed. Barely remembering to set an alarm to wake him up early, he collapsed on the couch, already asleep before he hit the cushions.

* * *

The sky was still dark when Ichika dragged himself off the couch and shut off the obscenely early alarm. A quick breakfast followed by a hasty shower completed Ichika's time at home for the day, as he had barely finished dressing himself after said shower when he heard a knock at the door. Opening it, he saw Giorgi waiting for him.

"It is good to see that you are awake. Let's get going, our transport is waiting." At that, the Russian man turned and left, the Organization's newest recruit following.

"Um... Mr. Stukanov? What is our organization called anyway?" Ichika asked.

"Don't Mr. Stukanov me, that makes me feel older than I already am. As to our organization's name, it doesn't really have one. We just call it 'The Organization', or when the situation calls for it, we refer to one of our fronts."

"I see." Ichika said, entering the taxi that awaited them. The ride was quiet, and was soon over, the taxi parking beside a tall skyscraper.

"This is the White-Sakamoto Innovations Headquarters, the site of our front company in Japan." Giorgi explained as the pair entered the building.

"Officially, this is a company dealing in IS research and development, but it also serves as our primary source of material requisitions in Japan. For example, yesterday morning the company was sold an Uchigane Mass Production IS unit for 'Testing Purposes'. That IS participated in your rescue. Same thing occurred with a pair of Type-2 Experimental Anti-IS Rifles."

"Anti-IS Rifles?" Ichika asked, curious.

"The name is self explanatory, but I'm sure you want a bit more than that. As you know, the IS changed the face of modern warfare as we know it. Conventional infantry weapons may as well be shooting paper wads, tanks are too slow to match it, and aircraft can't sustain a prolonged engagement against one, and while warships can hurt them, the weapons that can do so are either too slow to aim properly or are too easily dodged. However, saying that all the money governments dumped into the military was suddenly wasted does not make for good re-election prospects for various world politicians, so countries took action. Many, like Russia, began to covertly downsize their conventional militaries, and used the freed up funds to jump-start their IS programs, while others, most notably America, began to research ways to close the 'IS Gap' with new technology, although this caused their IS programs to start off slower. The American 1st gen MPIS 'Mayfly', for example, was so riddled with flaws that its firepower was made useless by it's ridiculously small combat time of 5 minutes. However, this allowed their conventional militaries to get a large scale technological upgrade. Somewhat ironically, much of that technology came from the IS. After all, a plasma cannon is still a plasma cannon, regardless of whether it's on an IS or a tank." Giorgi said.

"So they took IS technology and gave it to their regular militaries?" Ichika asked.

"Exactly." The pair entered an elevator.

"I think it was the American M2 Eisenhower MBT that convinced the world that it was a viable use of the military budget. The Eisenhower was, and still is, the most advanced tank in the world. Using several batteries designed for MPIS units, the Eisenhower mounted a hypersensor suite linked directly to state-of-the-art targeting systems, which allowed it to use its main cannon to shoot down several supersonic drones during trial runs. Speaking of which, its main armament is a powerful plasma cannon that fires at .1% light speed, which means that although the shots lose cohesion after about a second's flight, the sheer speed at which they fly makes that short time irrelevant. A turret mounted point-defense laser system makes it almost impossible to hit it with a missile or rocket, even at point blank range, and the munitions that do make it through impact a full coverage energy barrier. It can hold its own against most first gen MPIS units, and even second gen units may find it a challenge to destroy. Of course, true IS units, as in the units that contain one of the 467 cores, can easily destroy it, but the M2 performed so well that it has convinced the nations of the world that the IS gap can and eventually will be closed. The Type-2 AIS Gun was Japan's first attempt at producing a man-portable anti-IS weapon. The result was a powerful, but extremely fragile and high-maintenance weapon. Should you decide to work in Engineering or R&D you'll learn more about this, but for now, we're almost at the roof."

Indeed, as those words were said, the elevator reached the roof and opened, revealing a Chinook with its ramp down, ready for takeoff. Soon, the pair boarded and were en-route to the Kuril islands. The helicopter landed on Urup in the same place as before, and was lowered down. As the pair stepped out of the helicopter, they were met by a man wearing a green sweater with a patch on his right shoulder.

"I assume you are our new recruit?" The man asked.

"I am." Ichika replied.

"Good. My name is Jason Weiss, and I will be your guide for orientation procedures." The man extended his hand, and Ichika shook it.

"Once the tour is complete, you will receive a complimentary sweater and coffee mug, and given your age, you will be given the opportunity to apply for an apprenticeship in one of our departments." Jason said.

"Apprenticeship?"

"Since you lack experience due to your age, one of our more experienced members will show you the ropes. Now, come along, time is money." Jason turned and began to leave the room, while Ichika hurried to follow him.

"As you can see, most of our base is still under construction, but we've got several areas up and running, and you will be visiting most of them today."

"Most of them?"

"Yes. As you are living off-site, you will not be visiting the barracks, while your age prohibits you from joining our military branch, so the armory will only be given a cursory visit. Finally, our base's power plant is currently closed to all unauthorized personnel, so we will not be visiting it."

"Power plant?"

"Yes. Our base is currently powered by what was once the SSV-33 Ural, an old Soviet command and control nuclear cruiser. Of course, while it was very advanced for its time, the high operating costs and the fact that there wasn't a large enough pier to support it at its home port meant that it was reduced to being a glorified barracks and power plant. With the IS coming out, the ship was decommissioned, along with a good portion of the Russian navy, so we could acquire it for a rather cheap cost. However, most of the equipment onboard was obsolete and in poor condition, so we removed it. In addition, the ship's armaments were stripped off, essentially giving us a rusty, nuclear powered hull. We removed the reactor and scrapped the rest for materials, and that nuclear reactor now powers the base, along with a geothermal generator down below."

"Nuclear reactor? Isn't that against some treaty?" Ichika asked.

"Yes. That is another reason why secrecy is important, Ichika. Some of the things we do here are illegal by international law, despite the fact that we do it for a good cause, namely preserving the balance of power in the world, preventing armed conflict, and performing counter-terrorist operations."

"But how did you get your hands on the Ural?"

"Officially, the ship sprung a leak and sunk while en-route to a facility that could properly decommission it. Unofficially, it's captain is a couple thousand Rubles richer, and we have a Cold War era nuclear cruiser. Of course, the official that sold the ship to us was arrested almost as soon as he got into port, and the Russian government believes that he sold it to a private company that wished to scrap it, which I guess is somewhat accurate."

"I see..." Ichika said, trying to hide his discomfort.

"Good. Now, on with the tour." The man said, just as they entered a cavernous room packed to bursting with machinery and engineers.

"This is the main engineering bay. The people here work closely with the Research and Development department to build the various technologies that will eventually run this base. Right now, it's assembling the various materials needed to get this base up and running as fast as possible. In addition, as you can see over there, they are building the vertical launch catapults that will eventually allow us to rapidly launch the aircraft that we will eventually field here. You know that big cavern that they're excavating? That will eventually be our hangar bay." Jason said as he pointed towards one of the corners of the workshop, where the engineers were working on what, at a glance, seemed to be a giant launch rail.

"Now, as I said before, the people here work very closely with our R&D department. In fact, quite a few of the engineers here are actually R&D boys who have nothing to do at the moment, so they're helping out here as best they can. Speaking of which, the R&D bay is right next door." Jason said as he led Ichika across the room via a catwalk on the ceiling. Soon, they arrived at another, similarly sized room. However, this room was clearly subdivided into several sections. The vast majority of the room seemed empty, while another, smaller area was walled off from the rest and was clearly full of computers. Finally, a third section was a small, or at least small compared to the engineering bay, fabrication center. The area was still quite large though, as was evidenced by the Mitsubishi F-3 fighter craft lying disassembled within. The F-3 was a cutting-edge Japanese fighter craft based off the American F-22 Raptor, and was the pride and joy of the JSDF Air force, at least until the IS was released not even a year after the fighter began being mass produced, thus rendering the fighter obsolete.

"What are they doing with that fighter craft?" Ichika asked, pointing.

"Oh that? Remember how I mentioned the Vertical Launch Catapults? Well, they have one simple problem in that the launch process puts an immense amount of stress on the airframe, thus destroying the craft. The F-3 was one of the few fighters that could even be launched in a pilotable condition, and even then it would have taken severe damage. This is compounded by the fact that the immense amount of G-forces exerted during the launch process would actually cause the pilot to pass out during takeoff, which is highly dangerous for obvious reasons. What they're doing down there is attempting to find a fix for that problem."

"Wait, aren't IS suits capable of pulling extreme-G maneuvers without negatively impacting the pilot or the suit?" Ichika asked.

"Exactly. That is due to the IS's Passive Inertia Canceler, or PIC. What the people down there are trying to do is fit a PIC and its power source into the fighter craft without negatively impacting its performance." Jason paused for a few seconds. "You're a sharp kid, you know."

"W-well, Chifuyu-nee always said that she wouldn't settle for an idiot brother..." Ichika laughed.

"Ha. Anyway, on with the show. Next stop is the Armory/IS bay. We won't be spending a large amount of time there, as the IS bay is mostly empty, while the armory is not an area you will be using often." Jason steered the conversation back on track as he led Ichika to his next destination.

The pair proceeded into the armory, which was comparatively small compared to the previous two rooms they had visited. What the armory did have, however, was a large amount of firearms. Most of them looked familiar to Ichika, but there were two particularly large guns laid out on a table that caught his eye.

"What are those?" Ichika asked.

"Ah, those are our Type-2 AIS Rifles. Powerful, but they were rejected by the JSDF for being too impractical for battlefield use. They are what allowed us to eliminate both hostile IS units that were guarding you during our rescue operation."

"Oh, so that's what Giorgi was talking about." Ichika said.

"Giorgi? You mean Old Stukanov actually lets you call him that?" The man laughed. "He must have taken a liking to you kid!" However, Ichika wasn't paying attention to him, as he had run up to the large window on one edge of the room, which gave him a view overlooking the IS bay. There were three IS suits contained within, with one that he recognized as an Uchigane being stored in an alcove, while another Uchigane and what looked like a Raphael Revive were undergoing repairs, as technicians swarmed around the two suits, which were suspended just above the floor in special rotating racks.

"Recruit Orimura? We're moving on!" Jason called out, causing Ichika to scramble away from the window and into the wake of his guide. After a few moments of walking, the pair came to an intersection.

"Down there are the Barracks. Should you decide to live on-site, you will be assigned a room there. However, we will not be visiting there for the time being. Instead, we will now head to the final area of the tour, namely the command center. That is where I work by the way."

After nearly a minute of walking, the pair came to a large room, full of computers. A large screen displayed a map of the world, while technicians and officers dressed similarly to Jason moved around. Unlike the R&D room or Main Engineering, the atmosphere was quiet, with the quiet buzz of computers being the loudest noise present.

"This is the nerve center of our organization. Here we sift through intel, manage operations, and co-ordinate with our other cells across the globe... or at least that's what we eventually hope to do here. Right now, all we're doing here is managing construction and acquisitions, although yesterday we did command our first operation from here."

"I see. So now that the tour is over, does that mean I have to decide on an apprenticeship?" Ichika asked.

"It would be preferable for you to decide as soon as possible, yes, but there is no rush. Now, about your complimentary coffee mug and sweater..." Jason led Ichika down another hallway, which eventually led to the large open cavern. Soon, they reached a small door, one that Ichika realized was the same one he had been led to the day before. The door opened, and Ichika saw that on the desk lay a folded green sweater wrapped in plastic, and a simple white coffee mug with the Organization logo on the side. Closer inspection revealed his name printed under the logo on the coffee cup, while he also saw that the sweater was missing the logo that Jason's had on its right shoulder.

That was when the door closed, leaving Ichika alone inside the room again.

"Hello again, Recruit Orimura. I trust you are already considering your apprenticeship?" The voice of the Organization's leader rang over the intercom.

"Well, I was interested in the Research and Development department, and-" Ichika began but was cut off.

"And you were wondering if there was anyone there willing to accept you?" The commander finished.

"Y-yes. Exactly."

"Hmm. Well, there are several openings available. However, in order to better use your time, most of your training will be taking place at the White-Sakamoto Innovations Tower, as it is easier for you to go there on weekdays. Weekends will be spent here, with the exception of every other Sunday, which you have to yourself." Ichika blanched at that.

"But my schoolwork-"

"We will make time for it. Now, are there any other concerns you wish to voice, or shall I arrange for an apprenticeship with one of the R&D department's staff?"

"N-no sir."

"Good. Wait there, and put the uniform on while you're at it. A patch denoting your department will be given to you by the end of the day." At that, the voice went silent. Having nothing better to do, Ichika quickly donned the shirt, and quickly found that it was significantly heavier than it looked.

There was a knock on the door.

"Are you dressed?" A male voice sounded out.

"I am."

"Good." The door opened, and an aged man walked in.

"My name is Raymond White. I'm one of the three R&D leaders in the department, with my specialty being the IS. I assume you are Orimura Ichika?"

"Y-yes."

"Good. Let's go." Ichika followed Raymond out of the room and in the direction of the R&D room, Ichika somewhat uncomfortable in his new clothing.

"Why is this shirt so heavy?" Ichika asked.

"Simple: It's bullet resistant. It'll stop low caliber rounds at close range, and medium caliber ones at long range, although if someone decided to shoot an AK-47 at you at close range it won't protect you. It'll stop a 9mm pistol round, but the more high powered ones will punch through it. Oh, and don't even think about stress-testing it. Even though it will stop the bullet itself, the force is still enough to break bones and cause serious injury."

"Ah, I understand." Ichika said.

"I hope you do, because that's what R&D is about. If you don't understand anything, you'll just be a detriment to your co-workers."

"I'll try not to be."

"I guess that's the most I can hope for. Now, do you know what we're doing down in the R&D room?" Raymond asked.

"You're trying to fit a PIC into an F-3 fighter airframe." Ichika answered, getting a raised eyebrow.

"Good, so you actually paid attention during the tour. At least you're not a complete idiot."

"I'm curious though, I thought your specialization was the IS? Why are you working on a fighter jet?"

"I'm working on the fighter jet because the PIC is IS technology... that and I kind of laid down the theory behind it."

"What do you mean? I thought Dr. Shinonono-"

"Don't say that woman's name around me. Ever."

"Wha?"

"Ah well, I suppose we've still got time, so I'll explain to you. Remember all of it, because I won't tell this story to you again." Raymond leaned against a wall before starting to speak.

"I am sure you have heard the tale about how That Woman invented the IS and ushered in a new age of prosperity and peace for all, right?"

"Well... yes."

"Lies. All of it. Do you really think any government would invest billions into what turned out to be glorified sports' equipment? No, the IS was originally designed for space exploration, and I was part of the team that worked on the project. It was originally supposed to be a type of one-man spacecraft that would replace the bulky and cumbersome space suits that astronauts still wear. We had the theory down pat, everything checked out. We knew exactly how to repeatedly violate every single law of physics by the time we were done. We even built several mock-ups, one of which was even tested in space. The only problem was the power supply. There simply did not exist a source of power capable of generating enough juice to perform the physics violations we needed. So, due to this, the project was put on the back burner, our funding was reduced, et cetera et cetera. Then, one day a hacker comes along and before we knew what was going on, the data on the IS was stolen. Two years pass without incident, and then along comes That Woman with the IS core. At the time, we considered her a godsend. How could we not? The IS core was a solution to all our problems regarding power! Hell, the White Knight incident showed that our theory was perfect! We studied that IS's performance thoroughly, and it checked out with all our calculations! So, we approached the Doctor and offered her a place on our team. Our offer was declined, as she already had her own agenda regarding the IS, and I am sure you know what that agenda was."

"She turned our greatest work into a goddamn soccer ball, that's what she did! She held the world by the balls using the White Knight, and forced it to accept the Alaska treaty, and then, as if she was giving out treats to good little dogs, she distributed the IS cores, and then after only 467, she cut production and went into hiding. Now, thanks to the limited amount of IS cores, all R&D regarding the IS is pseudo-military based, as diverting even one core from military matters means either violating the treaty or deliberately weakening your nation. These days, the IS is used as glorified sports equipment and to give little girls an ego boost. Had That Woman shared the secret of the cores, or at least continued making them, I guarantee you that we would have established a true base on the moon, and that the American flag would be flying over Mars, if not further! Now, all that technology has come to is a fucking sport."

"What about the Mass Production IS units? Aren't those battery powered?" Ichika asked.

"Ah, those? Well the Doctor gave the nations of the world the plans to build two things when they asked her for core fabrication secrets. The first was the blueprints for a ridiculously powerful battery, and the second was a control system, containing a copy-paste 'Dumb' AI for controlling the IS. That control system is what locks men out of the IS, and if my theory is correct, it's for a truly idiotic reason."

"Wait, what do you mean? How does the control system prevent men from using the IS?" Ichika asked.

"Oh that? Well, your's truly's home nation decided to experiment one day, and found that when the control system was removed, the IS would respond to both men and women. The only problem is that it also turned the IS into a goddamn deathtrap. One of the test pilots died, and the rest were all crippled for life, after all. Turns out that without an AI to control the suit, the IS looks for another control system, which ends up being the pilot's brain. That's how the U.S. lost its test pilot, the IS attempted to hijack his brain and ended up burning out his central nervous system. That problem was quickly fixed, but the result was an IS that was impossible to control. Every single prototype was destroyed in a crash after spending the entirety of its short flight time trying its best to kill its pilot. No fix for that problem was found, and the U.S. is understandably reluctant at trying again. Oh, and before you ask, all attempts at making a separate control system have ended in failure."

"Ok... What was that truly idiotic reason you mentioned earlier?" Ichika asked.

"Oh that is simple. A true IS core contains both a true 'Smart' AI and a power supply with damn near infinite yield. It's the AI that prevents men from using the damn things, and if I am right, it's simply because it wasn't exposed to men until it was already an 'adult' with its mind fully developed! Had the Doctor simply gotten a goddamn boyfriend, the IS would be a unisex killer mechsuit instead of a women only killer mechsuit! Stupid, right?"

"Wait, you said the core had an infinite yield?"

"As close as you can possibly get to infinite, yes. Hell, the Americans, in an attempt to see exactly how much power the IS core held, hooked one up to their nation's power grid, and as a result eliminated their nation's electric bill overnight! There isn't a single power plant left in the U.S. and that core can run an IS IN ADDITION to powering the nation! The U.S. is even making a quick buck selling electricity to Canada and Mexico! There's even talk of using the IS core to break the light-speed barrier, although the Alaska treaty means these talks will remain theoretical."

By then, the pair had made it's way to the R&D bay, and soon they were inside, Ichika taking in the sights once again, this time from the ground floor instead of a catwalk high above the ground. The bits of fighter looked so much larger from down below...

"Orimura, as you are too young and not knowledgeable enough at the moment to truly develop your ideas in a way that we can use, I'll simply stick you in with the rest of the kids for now in the brainstorming department."

"There are other kids here?"

"You'll see." Raymond led Ichika to the small, computer filled section that was walled off from the rest of the area. Opening the door, Raymond began to speak.

"Allright you monkeys, listen up! This is Orimura Ichika, my newest recruit. As he is unable to work with the rest of us real men and women, I'll stick him in with you for the moment so that you can show him the ropes! By the end of next week, I want that fighter reassembled and ready for testing, understood?" The man shouted. Then, he gently pushed Ichika into the room and shut the door. Ichika thought he heard a lock click, but he hoped that it was just his imagination.

The occupants of the room all stared at him. He stared back.

"HE'S SO CUUUTTEEEE!" The silence was broken by one of the room's female occupants leaping up from her chair and running over to him. Before Ichika knew what was going on, his face was smashed deep into the red haired woman's rather bountiful chest.

"Lucky bastard." He thought he heard one of the male occupants grumble.

"He even has a little uniform! D'aww, who's a secret super-engineer? You are, oh yes you are!" The woman continued to squeal, now pinching his cheeks.

Click! The flash of a camera caused Ichika's assailant to pause in her ministrations. In front of the pair stood a blonde woman, a passive expression on her face as she held up the camera.

"Allright everyone, settle down and let's get the new recruit settled in." Another voice cut through the room. Most of the room's occupants turned to listen, with the exception of the two women, who were busy negotiating a price on the picture. Ichika was beginning to understand why these people were referred to as kids. The speaker, a tall man with a head full of light grey hair, then walked up to Ichika.

"So you're the new kid, and quite literally at that! Welcome to the Brainstorming department. We're getting paid here to have ideas and to prove that they're worth building. Given your lack of practical experience and your over-active child's imagination, you will probably fit right in here, at least until Grandpa Ray decides you've suffered enough of our company. Now, our job is to figure out a feasible way to fit a PIC and an MPIS battery to power it into a Mitsubishi F-3 airframe. We have a week to figure out a way and to prove that it can be done. Then the job goes over to the boys in fabrication to build a prototype, you will likely work there once you're old enough to handle the equipment. Until then though, you're stuck with us." The man said.

The man walked Ichika over to an empty computer, which showed an exploded view of the fighter jet. Each component was separated from the rest, from the smallest bolt to the engines themselves. A PIC and a box representing the battery lay off to the side.

"So what's stopping us from just stuffing this inside?" Ichika asked, pointing to the items in question.

"Well, pretty much every bit of space inside is already either used for storing fuel, the payload, or the engines. The wings are too thin, and just bolting it onto the exterior would negatively effect the performance of the plane." The man explained.

"Well why don't we just swap out the fuel tanks and engines for more batteries and IS impulse drives? We're already using IS technology, so why not use a little more? Impulse Drives are smaller than jet engines, so that should free up more room for the PIC, and all the space taken up by fuel tanks would be replaced by batteries." Ichika said. That caused the man to pause.

"I'll get back to you on that." The man said and ran to his computer, leaving Ichika alone.

"Would you like to pose for another picture?" Or maybe not so alone. Looking up, Ichika saw the red haired woman that he had met when he had first been pushed into the room.

"Hey, leave the kid alone, at least he's contributing, if Chen's reaction to whatever he said was anything to go by." The man sitting next to Ichika said. He must have been someone important, as the two women simply grumbled and left to their work stations. Ichika turned to thank his neighbor, but the man had already stood and left as well, leaving Ichika alone again. Then, after what seemed like hours but turned out to be barely 30 minutes according to his computer's clock, Dr. Chen, the tall, grey haired man ran back.

"It works! Or at least, everything fits in with some space to spare. We'll have to design a bigger, more powerful version of the IS engine, but other than that everything works! If my preliminary estimates are correct, this could even improve the craft's overall performance, at least in combat. Effective range might suffer a bit, but I think it will work! Nice job Ichika, we'll design the expanded Impulse Drive, you just watch and learn."

That sentence summed up what Ichika did for the rest of the day. He simply watched the team slowly work on, and succeed at, designing a larger, more powerful version of the IS impulse drive, which was an engine that manipulated gravity in order to propel the IS suit. The final design ended up placing the PIC directly in front of the two impulse drives, which, while they were larger than the ones used in the IS, they were still much smaller than the IHI XF5-1 engines that used to power the craft. The space taken up by fuel tanks was now filled with IS batteries, while the two air intakes had been streamlined and converted into small munitions bays. By the end of the day, the file had been submitted, although work could not begin until the Organization could obtain more IS batteries from the Japanese government, as they lacked the capability to manufacture their own... at least for the moment, as Ichika learned. After all, the Japanese were far from the only government with the ability to manufacture IS batteries, and some governments were more loose lipped when it came to the process.

Ichika's thoughts were filled with fighter planes by the time Raymond pulled him out of the room, and handed him a thick book, easily the size of a phone directory.

"Congratulations on the well placed comment kid." Raymond said, before pointing to the book. "Memorize that, and you'll get to start working on IS frames. Until then, you'll help out on other projects. I believe that once the fighters are done, our orders are to improve on the Type-2."

"Um, Dr. White?" Ichika asked.

"Yes? Make it quick."

"Why do we not have the ability to make our own MPIS batteries?"

"The Japanese government was unwilling to give that capability to us. They still see us as little more than an R&D think-tank that so happens to do military jobs every once in a while. However, regarding the battery situation, we can obtain the specifics from the Americans. One of my old colleagues works in the American IS business, specifically with Mass Production models. He is the chief designer behind what could be the second generation American MPIS, after all. We'll have the capability to build both batteries and control modules by the end of the month, I am sure of it."

The pair walked to one of the room's exits, near which Giorgi was waiting.

"Oh, and before I forget..." Raymond reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge. It contained the Organization insignia, a Lion standing atop a shield, with the words 'Tueri Umbra' written below. On the shield was the insignia of the Organization's R&D department, namely a blueprint of a cog.

The doctor pressed the badge to Ichika's right shoulder, and with a soft hiss, the adherents took hold, anchoring the patch to the sweater. Then, the patch seemed to slowly sink into the fabric itself, until it was flush with the surrounding fabric of the sweater.

"Welcome to the R&D corps, Junior Apprentice Orimura Ichika. Press the badge before you leave." With those words, the scientist turned and headed back into the R&D room, while Ichika followed Giorgi towards the helicopter hangar. Soon, the pair were alone inside the helicopter as it flew towards Japan. That was when Ichika remembered the second half of Raymond's parting words. Pressing the badge with one of his fingers, his eyes nearly popped out of his sockets as the patch assumed the same color and texture of the surrounding cloth. Pressing the area again caused the badge to shift back into view.

"Convenient, isn't it?" Giorgi spoke.

"That it is." Ichika replied.

"Eliminates the need for hidden changing rooms to get rid of incriminating insignia. I heard that there are plans to extend the color changing effects to the entire shirt, although that won't be happening for a while."

"That would be nice." Ichika said offhandedly as he hid the badge once again.

"So, I heard you helped fix the issues with the F-3."

"I didn't really help, I just said something that got other people thinking."

"Heh. That's the best kind of help there is. A simple suggestion here, a bit of helpful advice there... You simply helped them help themselves."

"Mhm." Ichika yawned.

"Today is your last chance, you know. You still have one hour in which to say no and swear to secrecy. Do that, and you lose the shirt and badge, but you regain your childhood. So long as you tell no-one, you can still be a child." Giorgi said.

"I am sorry then, I'm staying. I may still have time to leave, but I have already accepted this path." Ichika replied.

"I'm sure that young girlfriend of yours would beg to differ."

"Who, Rin? She's not my girlfriend, she's just a girl who is my friend. I'm sure she will understand." Ichika smiled.

"Ha!" The older man laughed.

"What?" Ichika exclaimed.

"Nothing..." The man laughed again.

"Come on, please tell me!"

"Sorry, but it is a secret all men must learn on their own! If you try to tell it to someone else, they'll never take you seriously."

"Aww, please tell me!" Ichika pouted.

"Actually, I do have something to tell you, namely your cover story. Should anyone ask, simply tell them that you are studying IS design under Dr. Raymond White at White-Sakamoto Innovations. It's close enough to the truth that you can answer any questions that people ask you, without raising too many flags, and given where you will be spending most of your time, it is the perfect alibi. Should anyone ask for paperwork, tell them it will be ready by tomorrow. We'll get everything done on our end."

"Understood." Ichika replied.

"Good. We're almost there." Ichika looked out of the window and saw the Tokyo skyline approaching fast. Soon, the Chinook had landed, and Ichika stepped out, Giorgi following behind him. The sun had already set, but the city below glowed bright as day.

"Come on, let's get you home." Soon, the pair had boarded a taxi and Ichika was heading home. By the time he had arrived, he was already half asleep. He exited the car, intending on returning home, when Giorgi suddenly stood and stopped him.

"Someone's been here." He said simply, startling Ichika into wakefulness.

"How do you know?" Ichika asked.

"Simple- When I approached your house, I placed down a newspaper bag over here, with a rock on top to weigh it down and prevent it from being blown away." The man indicated an empty spot on the ground.

"That particular spot is always underfoot- were someone to attempt entry, they would have hit it with their foot, thus disturbing it." At that, the ex-Spetsnaz pointed to where the newspaper lay, several feet away.

"The rock is further in that direction. Someone was here."

"It's probably just Rin or Dan, not a kidnapper." Ichika said.

"Better safe than sorry. Here, take this." Ichika looked down at the combat knife being handed to him. Hesitantly, he picked it up.

"Hold it like this. Much better." The Russian said as he adjusted Ichika's grip on the weapon, before drawing a gun himself.

"Stay behind me." Ichika nodded, and followed Giorgi up to the door. The Russian knocked with one hand, while keeping the gun ready.

The door swung open, the gun was raised... and a partially deployed Yukihira Nigata came to rest underneath Giorgi's chin.

"There are three things I would like you to explain: First: who are you. Second: why are you with my brother. Third: Please tell me why you are pointing a Stechkin APS at my head." The owner of the IS blade, a beautiful, black haired woman asked, seemingly unconcerned with the gun barrel barely a centimeter from her head.

From behind the pair, Ichika could only stare.

"Ch-Chifuyu-nee!"

* * *

 **A/N: And the first chapter is out! I know that quite a lot of my readers are demanding updates to my older works, but quite honestly, I really can't stand to look at some of my oldest stories without cringing at the obvious Sues present. In fact, a certain guest review for Secrets of the Void perfectly summed up my feelings on the matter. The oldest story I really do want to update is Unity, Duty, RWBY, but my muse for it has sadly withered and died, much to my displeasure. I'll probably write more about my feelings on updates on my profile, should anyone care enough to read it. (Currently my profile is almost a year out of date, although I'll be updating soon)**

 **Regarding this story, I hope you readers like how it has started, and that the 'Second Chapter' effect will not kick in. (I did everything right this time! I left a suitable cliffhanger, and have much of the following chapter planned out already!) A Warhammer 40k fic that has also been bouncing around in my head will be released shortly as well, and I will be concentrating on updating these two until my muse for some of my older stories returns.**

 **See ya! Read and Review, and if you see any glaring flaws/inconsistencies, don't hesitate to point them out so I can fix them!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: The Law of Second Chapters states that the awesomeness of the second chapter of a fic is inversely proportional to the awesomeness of the chapter before it. Hopefully I have managed to avoid it this time around, but given my track record with these sorts of things, I won't be surprised if this chapter is what breaks what the first chapter made. That said, my main concerns with this are A. As this chapter contains timeskips, it may come off with a rushed feel, something that I would like to avoid. B. An increase in the Canon Character count means that concerns about OOCness grow. Hopefully these concerns will prove meaningless, but given that the second chapter is where I usually screw up my fics, I wouldn't count on it. And now, without further rambling, on with the show!**

 **Chapter 2**

"Well? I'm waiting." Chifuyu said, as if she was casually discussing the weather rather than holding a blade to someone's throat. The object of her ire, an Ops Commander Giorgi Stukanov, simply chuckled in response.

"My name is Giorgi Stukanov. That answers your first question. I have been hired as your son's bodyguard by his new teacher at White-Sakamoto Innovations. Dr. White doesn't wan't his newfound protege kidnapped again, after all. And finally, it's not an APS, it's an APB, the silenced variant." The ex-Spetsnaz replied.

"Hmph. Do you really think you can hurt me with that archaic peashooter? I am an IS operator, after all. How about you lower your weapon before you hurt yourself, Mr. Bodyguard." Chifuyu taunted.

"Your barrier isn't deployed right now, and even if it were my gun is within its effective radius. The primary defensive barrier of an IS is a sphere that is deployed 3.25 centimeters away from the skin at its closest point. A particularly skilled partial deployment can reduce that distance to just under one centimeter. My gun is still closer. A flaw in the design of the barrier means that, for all intents and purposes, this pistol is part of your clothing, and is thus allowed to exist within its radius."

"True, but all I would have to do to rectify that is to lean back. My blade would prevent you from keeping up."

"Leaning back would allow me to get some distance and make you a perfect target for the Type-2 operator on the roof a few kilometers away."

"The Type-2? Please, don't make me laugh. That piece of junk can't even scratch the barrier of a true IS."

"That would normally be the case, but a partially deployed IS has reduced capability in all fields, allowing it to do damage."

"In the time it takes for the hypothetical shell to cross that distance, my IS will be fully deployed." Chifuyu said with a smirk. After a few seconds of silence, Giorgi sighed in defeat and lowered his gun.

"Whatever, my job here is done. It's clear you are not here to harm my charge, so I release him to your care. Keep the knife." That last part was said to Ichika, who looked down at his hand, remembering the knife he was holding there.

"You have tomorrow to yourself, while your lessons begin the day after. I will wait for you after school ends on Monday. Do not be late." At that, Giorgi turned and walked away, heading back to the waiting taxi. Chifuyu waited until he was gone, then ushered Ichika inside.

"What, no hug for your older sister?" Chifuyu asked once the pair was inside.

"You're back early." Ichika said as he embraced her.

"That I am. Now, what is this I hear about you being kidnapped?" Chifuyu asked, letting go of her brother.

"W-well, the people who rescued me said something about an organization called Phantom Task..." Ichika trailed off as he saw Chifuyu freeze.

"Chifuyu-nee, are you alright?"

"It's nothing. Did anything happen to you after you were taken? Did they do anything to you?" Chifuyu asked, any trace of benevolence on her face replaced by fury.

"N-no, they just bound me and locked me in a dark room. Anyway, I wasn't there for too long before the Government sent a team to rescue me." Ichika's face darkened as he remembered the walk through the bloody compound.

"Good to hear that the government is still somewhat competent. Is there anything else you wish to tell me?" Chifuyu asked.

"No..." Ichika replied.

"Good. Now, about what that man said to you. Kindly explain what he meant."

"Well, after I was rescued, the helicopter carrying me home was diverted to the White-Sakamoto Innovations tower, where I met with Dr. Raymond White."

"Wait, was he the same Raymond White who worked on the original IS team?" Chifuyu leaned in, curious.

"I... I don't know. Anyway, he told me that he had wanted to take me and teach me about IS design and... and I accepted." Ichika said.

"Hmm... You know that this changes nothing right? I still expect the best of you in school, regardless of how you chose to spend your time outside of it. It also goes without saying that I expect you to excel in this new field as well... although I thought that White-Sakamoto Innovations was based around adapting IS technology to conventional military use rather than actual IS design... Regardless, I noticed something when I came home. Look around and tell me what you see." Ichika did so, and found that the room was still a mess from the previous day when he had watched Chifuyu win the Mondo Grosso.

"A perfectly clean room?" Maybe if he tried, he could avoid having to clean it!

Or maybe not, as his sister soon had him hard at work cleaning up the mess he had made the previous day.

* * *

One year later Ichika found himself in the exact same room, cleaning up another mess he had made, although while a year ago the mess was mostly food related, this time he was scrubbing soot off the floor, courtesy of one of his experiments with IS technology. During the previous year he had made enough progress that Raymond had trusted him enough to work on particularly simple projects from home, such as the one that now existed as a lump of coagulated metal and plastic in a secure disposal container.

Fortunately for him, Chifuyu wasn't around at the moment to berate him for his failure, as she had apparently lost a bet while in Germany, which resulted in her return to said country in order to assist with some problems with the German IS corps. This in turn allowed for Raymond to monopolize even more of Ichika's time, to the point where every moment out of school was spent either at the Organization HQ or at the WSI tower studying and getting experience.

His phone ringing distracted him from his work. Upon picking up said instrument, he saw the call was from his mentor.

"Junior Apprentice Orimura, you are to meet me at the helipad on top of the WSI tower tomorrow morning. We are going on a business trip." The voice of the aged engineer rang in his ear.

"Sir?" Ichika was confused.

"You heard me. Pack your bags for a three day trip. We have a few pickups to make, and as you will be working with some of them, I want you to come along."

"Where are we going and what are we picking up?"

"Our first destination is London, England, where we will be meeting with the president of the Alcott foundation, who is himself a fringe member of our Organization, in order to pick up one of the prototypes of the new British Second Generation MPIS. While this particular prototype was ultimately rejected in favor of the design that would eventually become the Equite Mk. 1, I believe that it still has potential as an IS frame, and you are going to be the one working on it. Consider it a test of your skills, if you will. Our second stop will be in Honolulu, Hawaii, where we will be meeting with another one of our teams to pick up what is probably the most valuable thing to be in our Organizations' possession."

"And that is?" Ichika's curiosity was piqued.

"A fully functional IS core, courtesy of the Saudi Arabian government." At that, Ichika's eyes widened.

"You mean we managed to convince them to sell us a core?"

"No. Three hours from now, a Saudi convoy transporting an IS core will come under attack by our agents disguised as Phantom Task operatives. This will both secure us an IS core and create a rift between the Saudi Government and the terrorist organization, as several high ranking Saudi officials are covertly funding their operations."

"I see."

"Good. Now, your job will be to both fix the flaws in the British IS and to convert it into a true IS through the use of the IS core. This is a long term project that will take you at least a year. Once you succeed, you will be promoted to Senior Apprentice and take on a more active role in our department. Are we clear?"

"Understood." Ichika said, already walking to his room in order to pack.

"Good. I will see you there." The call ended, and Ichika set about getting ready for the coming journey.

* * *

The next day saw Ichika boarding a flight to London via the Tokyo international airport. When he asked Raymond how they would get the IS out of the country, his mentor replied that the Organization's refitted Kawasaki C-1 would be landing in England the following day to pick them and the IS up.

The Kawasaki C-1 was an old 1970s era transport that had already been replaced by the C-2 well before the IS was released, with the older aircraft being sold to various civilian companies as a heavy duty air transport, and the Organization had been able to acquire one of them. Ichika had spent nearly a month working alongside the rest of the R&D crew to improve the craft, resulting in a vehicle that had near global range while still retaining its transport capabilities.

Ichika spent the majority of the plane ride catching up on much needed sleep, and thus time passed relatively quickly for him. He was shaken awake by Raymond as the plane was landing, and the pair were soon taking a taxi to the Alcott Foundation Headquarters.

The building itself was similar in appearance to the WSI tower in Tokyo, being a tall, glass covered box reaching towards the sky.

"Doctor Raymond White and Ichika Orimura, to meet with President Edmond Alcott." Raymond spoke to a secretary as the pair entered the building.

"One moment please." The secretary stepped into a back room, and emerged a few minutes later.

"The President will see you now. Fifth floor, room 512." Raymond thanked the woman once she had finished speaking and soon the pair entered a small, cozy looking room, inside of which a blonde haired man was waiting for them. The man's eyes were bloodshot, and noticeable black rings sat around them. There was no strength present when the man halfheartedly offered his hand to Ichika. To the eleven year old's eyes, the president of the Alcott foundation looked like a dead man walking.

"Is that really you Edmond? What have you been doing to yourself?" Raymond said, genuinely shocked at the appearance of the man whom Ichika assumed was an acquaintance.

"Everyone deals with tragedy differently. Some are like you, and throw themselves into their work to forget. Others find a way to replace what was lost, and some like me..." At that, the man stood and opened a cabinet on the room's wall. Inside were several glasses and a bottle of whiskey.

"Some drown their sorrows in drink. Want some?" The man poured himself a glass before setting two more out for Ichika and Raymond.

"What happened?" Raymond asked softly.

"It was my wife. Lizzie... she died in the train crash about a year ago." Edmond downed the glass.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Elizabeth was a fine woman." Raymond said, not touching his own.

"Anyway, enough about the past." The man refilled his glass. "I suppose you're here for the Kestrel?" The man was referring to the IS prototype.

"Very astute. Yes, we are here for the IS prototype. Our mutual friends in the Organization are looking to expand their IS fleet."

"Of course you can have it, we had an agreement after all!"

"There is still the matter of the price. You only mentioned that you wished to negotiate one, rather than name a specific monetary sum."

"You can keep your money, you people would find a way to get it back into your hands anyway. No, the price I want is something entirely different."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly that. You can keep your money, I've got more than enough of that already. No, I want you people to perform a service for me."

"And what would that service be?" Raymond asked, keeping his voice neutral.

"It concerns my daughter, Cecilia." Edmond's voice grew quieter.

"And what would you have us do involving her?"

"My request is twofold. The first half is simple. My injuries from the train wreck that took my wife... well, when last I checked the Doctors said that I've only got three months left to live, and I've lived two of those. Factor in the drinking, and I know I'm about to be pushing up flowers any day now." As if to prove a point, the man downed another glass.

"Anyway, when I die, everything I have is going to Cecilia. I want you to keep the vultures off of her. Use force if necessary, I don't want anyone stealing from my daughter."

"That part of your request can be granted quite easily. Now, what is the second half?" Raymond asked after a few moments' consideration.

"The second part is also quite simple: You are to make my daughter's dream come true." The man's face grew serious.

"And what does that dream entail?" Raymond asked.

"Ever since Cecilia first heard of it she was obsessed with the IS. Her dream is to become England's Representative Candidate, and I want you to make that happen. At that, Ichika's jaw dropped. Was this man seriously asking them to take his daughter and prop her up as a representative over a girl more deserving of the position? Evidently Raymond thought the same, as a frown appeared on his face.

"I am sorry, but while it is within our capability to manipulate the situation to that effect, we are not in the business of stealing from little girls."

"Oh no, you misunderstand. I'm not asking you to buy her the position, I'm asking you to turn her into the best damn IS pilot in the nation. She already hates me enough as is, and buying her representative candidacy would break her once she found out. No, I want her to earn the damn position, and if you want the IS you are going to swear to me right now that you or your Organization are going to do whatever it takes to help her earn that position!" As Edmond spoke, Ichika saw life return to his features for the first time since the start of the meeting.

"I guess the old Edmond is still in there, somewhere. Consider it done." Raymond's face had grown into a genuine smile, the first one Ichika had ever seen on the engineer's face.

"Thanks Ray, I knew I could count on you to see the job done."

"I assume that any favors I owe you from back in the day are now considered null and void?"

"Well, there is one other thing I would like to ask you."

"Oh?"

"You're recording this meeting, right?" Raymond's response was to pull a thin audio recorder out of his sleeve, causing Ichika's eyes to nearly pop out of his head. How had the man activated it?

"Good. When you think the time is right, I want you to give that recording to Cecilia. You can edit out any references to our organization, and you can send it to her anonymously if need be. I might as well restore some of her faith in me." At that, Raymond nodded.

"Thank you. Now I can at least die with a smile on my face thanks to you." The man paused, before turning to Ichika.

"And who are you? You don't look like old Ray's son, that's for sure."

"Oh, this is my student, Orimura Ichika. He's going to be the one working on the Kestrel, so I wanted to bring him along so that he could see what he's going to be working with for the next year or so."

"I see..." The President of the Alcott Foundation's face was unreadable for a few moments. Then, the man spoke.

"Treat her well."

"Sorry?" Ichika asked.

"Treat her well. The Kestrel was my wife's last project. I want the end result to be a thousand times better than the Equite, do you hear?" The man's voice took on a slight edge.

"I will make sure of it." Ichika said, attempting to sound confident.

"Good. Remember that promise, because if it turns out you screw it up, I will return from beyond the grave to haunt you." Edmond's voice was light, but his eyes were cold and serious.

"I will remember." Ichika said.

"Alright then! Now that that's settled, where do you want to pick up the goods?"

After a few more drinks and some conversation, it was soon agreed that the IS would be dropped off early the following morning at the London International Airport, where it would be picked up by the transport that, after looking at his watch, Ichika realized was just taking off from Urup.

As the pair turned to leave the room, Edmond Alcott spoke up one last time.

"Oh, and Raymond? I know you can do it. I believe in you. We all do."

"All I can say is that I will try my best." Raymond replied, before he left the room, a curious Ichika following in his footsteps. But when the boy asked his mentor what the blonde haired Englishman meant, the American engineer simply sighed and said nothing.

The following morning saw Ichika and Raymond boarding the bulky transport plane long before the sun rose. The IS itself was stored securely in the main transport compartment, and by the time the sun had risen, the Organization members had long departed from the London International Airport. As the plane soared on its way to Hawaii, a certain blonde haired man breathed his last in his house's study, with a smile on his face and one final glass in his hand.

* * *

The sun had almost completely set by the time the transport landed in Honolulu International Airport, and the sky was completely dark by the time the pair checked into a hotel for the night.

The following morning Ichika woke up early and headed to the cafe down at the ground floor of the hotel. He was greeted by Raymond, who was already sitting down having breakfast. Quickly getting some food for himself, Ichika sat across from his mentor. Nobody spoke for a few minutes, but eventually Raymond initiated the conversation.

"I believe that you have done enough for this trip. I'll handle the meeting alone this time around, you just go out and enjoy yourself. I believe the Iowa is still undergoing refits in port, and if you're lucky you might catch a glimpse of it. That and the Blue Angels' IS branch is performing today out over Pearl in a few hours. Go have fun, god knows you need some."

"Thank you!" Ichika smiled, glad for some relief.

"Good. Meet me back at this hotel around four o'clock in the afternoon. That's when we'll be examining the IS. We'll spend the night flying back to Japan. Now finish up that slop you call breakfast and go have fun!"

Ichika did as the old man requested and soon was outside, walking along with a small amount of money that Raymond had been kind enough to give him. He wondered where he would go first...

* * *

The sun was high in the sky by the time Raymond entered the warehouse where the meeting would be taking place.

"I'm here. Tueri Umbra." The old man spoke to the seemingly empty room.

"Name?" A synthetic sounding voice asked.

"Dr. Raymond White. R&D Department Head, IS branch."

"Dr. White, eh? What were the contents of the message you sent to Edmond's wife two days before the White Knight Incident?"

"I sent no such message and you know it Simon!" Raymond shouted into the confines of the warehouse.

"Just checking if it's really you Ray." The speaker stepped out into the dim light, removing the voice synthesizer as he did so. "It's good to see you again."

"Well, this trip is certainly becoming a stroll down memory lane. I just saw Edmond yesterday evening, and now you're here with the best damn birthday present a brother could hope for." Indeed, the man, Simon, looked like a younger version of Raymond.

"You met with Ed? I was wondering where he'd gotten off to. After what happened, while the two of us threw our lot in with the organization and Old Hong was called back to China to assist with their IS program, Dave and Ed just dropped off the map."

"Yeah, the release of the IS hit all of us hard. Dave's working with the Americans now, his design just got accepted as their new second gen MPIS."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I got the battery and control system schematics from him."

"Huh... I should pay a visit to him sometime. He's the only one left aside from us after all..."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"Oh, I guess you haven't heard, you were on a plane after all, but they found Ed's body in his home yesterday."

"Damn, he told me he didn't have much time but..." Raymond trailed off.

"And we all know what happened to Hong. It's just us and Dave left now." Simon said sadly.

"Just another reason for me to finish what we started. What Hong died trying to accomplish." Raymond replied.

"Are you sure about this? Who knows what other failsafes That Woman put into this damn thing?" Simon gestured at an innocuous looking black box sitting beside him. Even though he couldn't see it, Raymond knew that the dark sphere that was the IS core lay within.

"Just another reason to get even with her." Raymond sighed bitterly. He still remembered the fateful day two years before. The Organization was still in its infancy back then, being little more than a motley collection of dissatisfied people who wanted to make a difference. He had received a message from his old colleague, Hong BaiSheng, saying that the Chinese scientist and his team had cracked the secret of the IS core, and were on the verge of testing their own version of said core.

* * *

 _Three Years Ago_

The two brothers sat on the couch, staring at the grainy picture on the computer screen. Their former colleague in China had hacked one of the cameras in the facility in order to give his two fellow scientists front-row seats to the process of making history.

As Hong had explained to them over a series of messages, the researchers at the Chinese laboratory had, in spite of a nearly crippling mechanical failure earlier that year, managed to create their own variant of the IS core, and it was today that said core would finally be activated.

The two brothers, Raymond and Simon, watched a pair of scientists converse in Chinese on the screen. Beside them, two black spheres, almost identical in appearance, lay next to each other on a counter. The only difference between the two were the Chinese words written on the cards attached to each core, one reading 'Original', the other reading 'New Design'.

On the screen, they watched as Dr. Hong began speaking into some sort of device, likely a transmitter.

"This is the first test of the newly created Model 1 IS core, created by the research team at the Northern Shaanxi facility for IS research. This core was based off the IS core designed by Doctor Shinonono Tabane, and will hopefully usher in a new age of prosperity for the People's Republic of China. The test will begin in thirty seconds."

Hong then said something to the two nearby scientists, one of whom nodded and proceeded to attach a cable to the core labeled 'New Design'.

"The test will now commence." At that, the other scientist pressed his finger into a barely visible indentation on the new core. With a noticeable hum, a faint blue aura of light began to emanate from the black sphere, while Dr. Hong looked at a series of readings on a computer before speaking again.

"The new core is currently producing power on a level comparable to the Doctor Tabane design. I now pronounce this test a success. Shut the core down, the experiment is over."

That was when things began to go horribly wrong. One of the scientists walked up to the new core and once again pushed his finger into the indentation. Frowning, the scientist tried again.

"The core is not de-activating." The man stated, only a touch of panic in his voice.

"Power readings spiking!" Hong suddenly exclaimed from the computer.

"Core power output approaching unsafe levels. Activating emergency shutdown!" Another scientist said, before speaking again a few moments later, panic in his voice. More voices soon joined in.

"Core emergency shutdown has failed!"

"The Tabane-Pattern core has activated on its own!"

"Power readings are past the redline! Catastrophic overload imminent!"

"I'm locked out of the system! The Tabane Pattern is doing something!"

Then Hong spoke once more.

"To those listening to this, I say goodbye. I pray that someone may succeed where I have fa-"

The screen erupted into static.

The two bothers halfway across the world watched the death of their colleague with wide eyes.

After a few moments, the older one spoke.

"God damn her." He choked out as he broke out into tears.

* * *

 _Present Day_

"What happened wasn't your fault. There was nothing we could do to stop it from happening." Simon comforted his older brother after watching him think for a few seconds.

"I know, but that changes nothing. We still watched him die, and we both know who was responsible! Even if it was just some automated failsafe to prevent copying, that woman might as well have killed him with her own two hands!"

"I know, and for what it's worth, I hope you succeed." Simon said as he handed the heavy package containing the IS core to his brother.

"I will. I guarantee it." Raymond said, taking the package.

"Just... Just be careful, OK? I don't want to even think of the same happening to you."

"Don't worry. I won't be dying just yet, alright?"

"You better not." With those words, Simon walked to the warehouse exit.

"See ya Bro. I've been re-assigned to our new cell in Europe."

"I'll be sure to call you." Raymond smiled as he too left the warehouse, the brothers going their separate ways once more.

As Raymond walked down the street, he paused to cast a single hateful glance at the black box he was carrying before continuing on. He had some calls to make. He had made a promise to his now dead friend and colleague after all.

* * *

Several miles away, one Orimura Ichika was quite ignorant of the tearful exchange that had just taken place. A smile was plastered firmly on his face as he walked away from Pearl, having watched the Blue Angels perform in their IS suits. He had also gotten a chance to see the USS Iowa undergoing refits in port. The old battleship had been brought out of mothballs by the US Government and was now being refitted as a testbed for Naval applications of IS technology. To that effect, the entire ship had been stripped almost completely bare, and was now being practically rebuilt from the ground up. As such, there really wasn't much to see aside from a hulk and a bunch of scaffolding, but it was still quite a sight.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a familiar voice.

"-chika? Ichika? Is that you?" Ichika turned to its source and saw Dan and his sister, Ran, standing beside a pair of red haired adults.

"Dan? Ran? What are you doing here?" Ichika asked as he made his way over to the Gotanda family.

"We're here on vacation! How about you?" Dan answered enthusiastically.

"I'm just here for today. The Old Man had something to do here that required a detour, and he left me out to relax." Ichika smiled.

"So how are you doing? We hardly ever see you anymore! Rin's been practically inconsolable!" Ran butted in. Dan's younger sister had long red hair, just like her brother.

"Ah, I'm sorry, but the Old Man's lessons take up a lot of my time, and I'm pretty tired after they are over." It wasn't a lie.

"I know, but remember to think of us when you're studying up in that tower of yours, alright?" Ran smiled.

"I promise." Ichika smiled. That was when the sirens began to ring.

"What's going on?" Dan asked.

"That siren... it means the military base is under attack!" Dan's father said.

"Come on, we're staying in this hotel over here. We have to get inside!" The red haired mother said, and Ichika saw no point in resisting. Soon, he was up with the Gotanda family in their hotel room, staring out the window. This particular room had a perfect view of the harbor, and was close enough that Ichika could see the IS suits, both mass production unit and True IS alike, rising into the sky as a sea of specks.

"What's going on?" Dan asked from where he was sitting on the floor.

"They're launching IS units, and I think I can see fighters taking off in the distance. Do you have any binoculars?"

There was no reply, but the red haired boy handed Ichika a pair before joining him by the window. With the binoculars, he could observe the harbor clearly now, and he gasped at the amount of military units that had been mobilized. He saw hundreds of MPIS units painted in the dark grey of the Navy, as well as more painted in the olive green of the US Army approaching. A few were even painted in the blue and yellow of the Blue Angels. Three IS units in particular stood out against the mass of grey and green. These were painted in bright colors, one Orange, another Yellow, and the last a deep Blue. On the ground, he saw M2 Eisenhower tanks moving into defensive positions, their oscillating turrets pointing their guns to the sky.

A bright streak of light flew by and speared a green MPIS, the stricken unit falling from the sky. Ichika saw a smaller speck detach from it, and moments later a parachute burst into view. The pilot must have bailed out.

Another streak of light, and the parachute was burning, its owner soon to be left without a way of slowing her fall. Tearing his eyes away from the soon to be dead woman, he looked up and saw a force of IS units, each painted the matte black of Phantom Task. One of them, likely a personal design, had its weapon pointed down. Even at this distance, and in spite of the mask the terrorist was wearing, Ichika swore he saw a sadistic smile on the woman's face.

Then the battle began in earnest, and the air was quickly filled with streaks of light and trails of smoke, as bolts of energy, superheated railgun shots, and even missiles fired by both IS and ground based launcher flew up at the attacking terrorists. He saw one Phantom Task IS explode as an MBT's shot struck its shields, which had already taken several hits. There was no chute, only a cloud of smoke and debris.

Soon, the fight began to spread, and Ichika watched as one of the Phantom Task IS units, the design of which somewhat resembled a spider, slammed an MPIS in the Blue Angels' regalia into the ground right in front of the hotel. A flicker of blue signaled the American IS' shields dying, and Ichika watched, fists clenched, as the spiderlike IS drove one of its legs into the pilot's chest before ripping out the red stained limb in a shower of gore. He saw the cruel smile on the terrorist's face as she disemboweled her opponent, he saw the woman's tongue flick out, tasting the blood that now covered her face, causing her smile to grow.

That was when Ichika decided that the woman could not be considered human. No human could do something like that to another, he thought. The woman was nothing but a rabid animal, drunk on the power given to her by the machine she wielded.

Ichika's fingers were drawing blood from his palms now, his fists were clenched so tightly. His right hand suddenly opened, and he felt down his foot, his hand coming to rest at the knife strapped to his right leg, concealed by his long pants. He drew the blade, startling Dan, the boy nervously moving away as he saw his childhood friend drawing a wicked looking combat knife from what seemed like nowhere.

Ichika's eyes were closed at the moment as he fought the urge to go outside, armed with nothing but a knife and do _something!_ He knew that his opponents had IS suits that would have made his knife about as useful as a twig in combat, he knew that doing so would mean certain death...

Slowly, he forced the urge to fight down, but his right hand remained clenched around the knife while his left brought the binoculars up to his eyes once more.

The situation at the harbor had changed. Several black IS suits had emerged from underwater and were in the process of engaging the American armor and infantry on the ground. Several black mech suits lay on the ground in various states of disrepair. Two were blasted into several large pieces, likely victims of the American tanks' main guns, while another was mostly intact. Its shield had likely been dropped by tank fire and a lucky infantryman had taken the opportunity to pump its pilot full of bullets. Soon, only one terrorist IS remained standing on the ground, and it was clearly a True IS unit. Where the others were simple first generation MPIS units that could be handled by the sheer volume of tanks present, this True IS withstood the incoming bombardment with almost contemptuous ease. At least, it could until a black MPIS wreck slammed into it from above. The perpetrator of this unusual attack, the dark blue American True IS, was close behind, and slammed the black TIS against the ground. The American's gun fired for nearly five seconds flat, the bright blue beam leaving an afterimage in Ichika's eyes, even at such a distance. The end result was a dead Terrorist and a wrecked IS. That seemed to be the turning point of the battle, as suddenly the Terrorist forces stopped firing and turned, accelerating away. Several wings of American IS suits pursued, and the few remaining black MPIS units fell from the sky within minutes. However, the American forces were too slow to catch the fleeing TIS units belonging to the Terrorists, and the three remaining Phantom Task operatives soon faded into the distance.

"Cowards." Ichika hissed out.

"What?" Dan asked.

"I said that they are nothing more than a bunch of cowards! As soon as they see that their target can fight back, they flee with their tails between their legs!" Ichika roared.

"I-Ichika!" Ran stuttered, backing away. That caused Ichika to look down at his right hand, which still brandished the knife he had drawn earlier. Sighing, he sheathed the weapon.

"Your sister..." Dan said suddenly.

"What about Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika asked.

"For a moment, you reminded me of her... like really reminded me!" Dan said.

"Sorry... I was just so angry, watching and not being able to do anything!" Ichika said, his voice drained of anger and now simply exhausted. Just then his phone rang.

"Change of plans Ichika. Meet me at the hotel we checked into. We're leaving." Raymond's voice sounded out on the other end.

"I understand." Ichika said quickly. Hanging up, he turned to the Gotanda family.

"I need to go. The Old Man says we're leaving."

"Goodbye Ichika..." Ran said sadly.

"See ya soon." Dan tried to sound cheerful, but failed miserably.

"I'll remember our promise Ran. Goodbye everyone." Ichika said, a weak smile on his face, before he walked out the door. He soon walked out into the empty street, and tried and failed to ignore the bloodstained wreckage that had once been an IS. As he passed it, he paused. The pilot's head was still intact and hung out of the wreck at an impossible angle. Its features were frozen, not in fear or pain, but in a visage of absolute hatred. That expression burned itself into the young boy's memory as he swore then and there that he would personally see the woman's killer brought to justice... or dead. At that moment, he didn't particularly care which.

The ride back to Urup HQ was spent in silence.

* * *

The darkness did nothing to hide the opulence of the upper-class hotel suite inside of which the three Phantom Task operatives knelt in silence. All three women faced a screen and transmitter combination, the screen displaying a face shrouded in shadow. It was the visage of their organization's leader.

"The mission failed, master." A beautiful woman with golden colored hair and shockingly crimson eyes spoke first.

"That was to be expected. After all, your leader attacked Pearl Harbor, one of the most well defended areas in the world, with nothing more than a handful of MPIS units and four True IS suits. Her death simply proved Darwin right." The leader's synthesized voice replied. No emotion was apparent.

"That is clear, master, but as a result of Waterfall's rash actions, the three of us are all that remain of our cell. What are our orders?" Another woman, this one tall and slender with white hair asked.

"Your orders will be relayed to you shortly. However, I am more curious about the reason behind Waterfall's sudden bout of idiocy. She always struck me as one of the more level headed members of your little group." The heads in the room turned to the third occupant, a young orange haired woman, her clothes bloodstained, their owner still in her teens, knowing exactly what their leader was referring to. Little Autumn was quite the psychopath, after all.

"I believe I know what was the cause. I believe she started planning something immediately after the annihilation of Pine cell during their kidnapping of one Orimura Ichika, as that was when she started sending us out on seemingly random sweeps across the Pacific. She was never one for sharing her reasons, but about three days ago she started talking to herself about 'Them' making a move, whoever 'They' are. That episode coincided with the incident in Saudi Arabia, where we were told that Israeli commandos disguised themselves as our operatives in order to steal a Saudi IS core. I believe she started planning for an attack on Pearl then." The crimson eyed beauty spoke again.

Their leader was silent for a few moments.

"I see." The shadowy visage paused in its speech. "It seems that Waterfall had the same suspicions as I do, namely that there is another force working in the shadows to oppose us. The Saudi Arabia incident only confirms both our suspicions in this matter. Squall, you said that Waterfall had you performing reconnaissance sweeps over the Pacific Ocean?"

"Yes, I believe she thought that 'They' operated out of a possible base in the islands south of Japan." The crimson eyed woman, Squall, replied.

"Hmm." Their leader seemed to be considering something. "Your orders are currently to go to ground and observe. Cease your reconnaissance sweeps, they will likely turn up nothing. Instead you are to search your area of Japan for evidence of this shadow organization's existence. Search the underworld, the hidden places, and most of all... keep an eye on little Ichika. If Waterfall's suspicions are correct, the boy has likely had some involvement with this organization in the past. They could have someone tailing him, keeping an eye out for attempts on his person. I entrust you, Squall, with this task. Consider yourself promoted to commander of Japan Cell Three, cell codename: Sakura."

"I will do my best, Master." Squall said simply.

"Good. Oh, and do remember to keep Autumn on a leash, her little stunt at Pearl has put her face all over various Most Wanted lists. I believe that the Americans are promising quite the reward for her capture... or her corpse." With those parting words, the Phantom's shadowy visage was replaced by static, and the screen was promptly turned off.

"Well Snowflake, looks like I'm in charge now." Squall smiled as she stood up.

"It seems you are." Snowflake replied, no emotion showing in her amber eyes.

"Shall we draw lots then, on who has to observe the snotty little kid?" Autumn piped up.

"No need. I will do it." Snowflake's face, previously impassive, now had a slight smile plastered on it.

"You always did like children..." Squall's face was nostalgic for a moment before it became serious once more. "Very well then, you will be observing the kid, while I'll handle the regular information search. I'll get in touch with Oak and Dogwood cells in the meantime, let them know about the change in leadership."

"What about me?" Autumn asked.

"You heard what the leader said, your face is plastered all over the most wanted lists of the world. You will have to lay low for a while. Besides..." As she spoke, Squall slowly moved behind the younger lady, her arms snaking around Autumn's growing body.

"I wouldn't want my precious little Autumn getting hurt now, would I?" Squall whispered sultrily into the orange haired teen's ears. Said teen was blushing like a schoolgirl at that point.

"Now let's go get you cleaned up. All that dried blood just doesn't look good on you!" The pair left the room, eager to get into the hotel room's shower, leaving Snowflake alone in the dark room. With a barely audible hiss, the white haired woman drew a well worn knife from her hip. The little smile on her face had grown into a full blown grin as she lost herself in the memories the knife brought back.

* * *

Ichika stood in the R&D room, clipboard in one hand and a pencil in the other, watching as Yukari Fujimura mounted the British prototype MPIS. As soon as the C-1 had landed, the IS had been taken below and a battery had been fitted into it overnight while Ichika lay in his bed at home, trying to sleep.

Now, the IS was ready for an assessment of its capabilities, and Ichika would be the one performing it. The specifications of the design had been sent electronically by Edmond Alcott, but Ichika wanted the pilot's opinion on the design.

With a barely audible hum, the IS started up.

"Any issues with startup?" Ichika asked, trying hard to keep his eyes on the test pilot's face rather than her scantly clad body. Ichika never understood why the IS pilot suits had to be so skimpy... No, he had to focus.

"No, startup went well. Better than well in fact, this thing starts twice as fast as our Raphael!" The pilot exclaimed. Ichika's pencil noted down the pilot's comment before he looked up from his clipboard.

"Now try moving the arms. Basic range of motion." The pilot did just that. He noticed the speed on the left arm was slightly faster than that on the right.

"The right arm is fine, but the left seems to be trying to overcompensate for my movements." Ichika made another note.

"Alright, now try walking." The IS began to walk, forward, back, and then to the sides.

"Everything normal here." Another note.

"Good. Try flying." The IS rose smoothly into the air. It hovered for a few moments before rising again and making a quick circle of the empty area of the R&D room. After about a minute, the unit landed beside Ichika again.

"Flight systems seem good, and there is next to no unnecessary movement while hovering." Ichika's pencil flew across the paper again.

"Alright, movement seems to check out. Now on to the weapon tests. Please proceed into the IS bay firing range." At that, the pilot laughed.

"What?" Ichika asked.

"Nothing, you just sounded a lot like Old Raymond right now." This caused Ichika to chuckle as well.

"Alright, moving on to weapons tests." The pair proceeded into the IS bay, passing the five MPIS units currently in storage. Three Uchiganes, one Raphael Revive, and a prototype of the new American Second Generation 'Peregrine' MPIS.

The pair proceeded into a long, narrow firing range adjacent to the IS storage bay, and the British built IS soon took up a firing position.

"What are the armaments of the IS designated Kestrel?" Ichika asked.

"The IS is armed with two shoulder mounted Free Electron Lasers (FEL) for use in the point defense and anti-aircraft roles. In addition, the IS is equipped with a 'liquid ammunition coilgun' rifle, which is its primary armament against other IS units." At that, the woman lifted then holstered said gun before reaching down to its hip and drawing a long, thin blade.

"Melee capability is provided by an electrically charged Hyper-Vibration Rapier." The woman swung the blade, which crackled with arcs of electricity.

"The HVR is light, fast, and likely effective against conventional military targets. However..." the weapon impacted a practice barrier that sprung up in the arena. "The weapon is not very effective against an IS defensive barrier, as the electricity is not present in sufficient volume to do damage and the blade itself is too light to carry significant force." Ichika took several more notes.

"Alright, now test out the FELs." At that, the two shoulder mounted pods swiveled to face the glowing barrier and a high pitched whine was the only indication the weapons were firing.

"These weapons are clearly not designed for use against other IS units, as while they are accurate and nearly impossible to dodge, they lack the power to do significant damage to IS shields, unless it is done for a sustained period of time. However, in their intended role of point defense, these weapons will likely excel." Ichika took another note before pressing a button on the wall next to him. Immediately, several brightly painted wooden balls shot through the air. The laser pods swiveled rapidly, and the balls were all burnt to a crisp in short order. Ichika took another note.

"Good. Now let's try out the rifle." At that, Yukari deactivated the laser pods and drew the weapon.

"Before testing the rifle, what is the status of your battery?" This caused Yukari to pause and then gasp.

"It's at 90% already! It was at 99% when I stopped using the sword... those lasers must be a huge energy drain." At that, Ichika took another note.

"Now try out the rifle." At that, there was the sound akin to several bullwhips cracking at once and a streak of superheated ferrofluid shot across the range and splashing against the barrier. The stream petered out after about ten second of continuous fire.

"Can you shoot again?" Ichika asked.

"No, the ammo's already drained." The woman frowned. "Battery just went down ten percent as well." Ichika made a note, then looked at the screen indicating the barrier's status.

"Whoa... that weapon was powerful enough to inflict significant damage even to the barrier of a True IS!" It was true, the barrier, and five others like it, had been deactivated during the firing test.

"If it had more ammo, it could very well have taken one out." Yukari mused, before turning to Ichika.

"Once you figure out a way to get more ammo into that thing, I call first dibs." The woman smiled.

"Good, I'll remember that. Now, the test is over. Let's get that thing back into storage." Ichika turned and left the firing range, Yukari following in her IS. Once she reached the IS storage bay, the pilot clambered out of her vehicle and watched as it was lifted into its storage alcove. She then turned and saw Ichika, the boy trying hard not to stare at her.

"Like what you see?" The IS pilot asked, striking a pose and causing Ichika's face to turn a deep scarlet.

"W-wha-say-" Ichika stuttered.

"Aww, I think I broke him." The woman smirked, walking up to the eleven year old and patting him on the head. "You're a nice kid. You'll be famous someday, if not out in the world, then at least in here." The woman gestured towards the surrounding building. Then, she went and entered a small side room, emerging a minute later dressed in her regular uniform.

"See ya later, Ichika-kun!" At that, the woman left the room, leaving Ichika alone within.

* * *

That night, a white haired woman stood atop a skyscraper, watching through her IS' hyper-sensor as Ichika and an older man disembarked from the helicopter. The man looked familiar, but Snowflake disregarded it. She had more important things to worry about than the identity of her victims, after all.

Squall's orders echoed in her mind. "Tail but do not kill." Simple, and full of loopholes. After all, death was the least of Ichika's worries when she was around. She quickly descended to the ground floor, a partial deployment slowing her fall, and watched, leaning against the WSI tower's wall, as her quarry and his guard exited the tower. The guard stood, looking around, as the boy boarded a taxi. The man's gaze passed over her, barely giving her a glance. She smiled as the man spoke to his charge while boarding the taxi, and soon Snowflake was following the pair from the roofs, her partially deployed IS allowing her to make death defying leaps in pursuit of her prey.

Her smile grew as she imagined what she would do to the boy. Seeing him wake up with his guard's head in his bed was particularly appealing to her, and she soon watched as the guard and her target parted ways. The guard looked around, gaze passing over her once again, as if she was unimportant. Snowflake smiled at that. The man was clearly not good at his job.

She followed the man from a distance, one hand at her knife's hilt as her mind began to fill with images of flowing blood and steaming entrails. Her prey turned onto a nearly deserted street, before making another turn into a back alley. Snowflake's smile, already wide, grew to nearly inhuman proportions. She turned into the alley, and saw that it continued down for a short while. She saw her prey turn a corner at the end, the path he had taken leading to a lower class brothel.

She hurried after him, and turned the corner. The last thing Snowflake saw was the already raised barrel of her quarry's gun, and the twitch of the man's finger on the trigger. Before her life was ended, all she heard was a silenced gunshot.

* * *

Giorgi Stukanov looked down at the woman whose head he had just put a bullet through.

"Did you really forget my face after all these years? Or if you did remember me, were you really so foolish as to think I wouldn't remember you, Lyudmila?" The Ex-Spetsnaz kicked the body once before getting down on one knee and began to search the body of the woman he had hunted for three years.

Between joining the Organization and being discharged from the military, Giorgi had done bounty hunting work for the Russian police, and the monster that lay dead in front of him was his only failure. Lyudmila Pederonova, a child murderess that had cut a bloody swathe through several orphanages in Kiev, Moscow, and St. Petersburg before finally disappearing in Petropavlovsk after Giorgi had hunted her across the country.

A quick search of her body revealed few belongings, among them a True IS in stored configuration, taking the form of a ring on the index finger, a well worn and wicked looking knife, and finally, an old and worn picture of a young boy with white hair and amber eyes.

Stukanov left the corpse where it lay after taking a quick picture of the body and a sample of the woman's hair for evidence. He had a few calls to make regarding the IS he had obtained, and another call was needed to claim the bounty.

He paused as he was leaving the alley and looked down at the woman's knife in his gloved hand. Raising his arm back, he threw the wicked instrument at the body of its owner, striking the corpse directly in the heart. Just in case.

* * *

For Ichika, the next ten months blurred together as he worked on the Kestrel. He had stripped out one of the FEL arrays, and mounted the remaining one in a more centralized location, directly over the pilot's head in an assembly that somewhat resembled a hood. This reduced the power drain, while still allowing the laser to act in its intended role. Any blind spots created by the hood were eliminated through a few tweaks to the Hyper-Sensor, and the ammo problem present in the ferrofluid gun was somewhat fixed by the addition of a pair of extra storage tanks on the back of the IS where the power conduits and targeting systems for the laser arrays were once located. Now, Ichika was sweating hard as he operated a pair of remote manipulator arms in an attempt to fix the problem with the left arm's overcompensation. While the job wasn't particularly strenuous physically speaking, a single mistake, a single component even a millimeter out of place, would mean undoing several days' worth of work.

Fortunately for him, Ichika's luck held and nearly an hour later Ichika wiped the sweat off his brow as he re-attached the arm's covering plating and retracted the manipulator arms.

"Alright Yukari, time for another test run. Hopefully it's fixed this time around." Ichika called the woman over the newly issued devices that had been given to all organization members. Said devices were small, flat boxes, somewhat resembling the new American I-phone 10 that had just come out. Of course, Raymond, the mastermind behind the design, had boasted that he had 'Removed the factor of Planned Obsolescence" and created something that made the Apple design look like a plastic brick. Ichika wasn't quite sure it was that much more advanced, but it was certainly better than the I-phone 9 that he had seen Dan playing with several months back.

Sighing, Ichika walked over to the IS and waited for the test pilot to arrive. He removed the stuffy gloves that kept his hands confined and once again ran his hand over his forehead. Tiredly, he leaned against the closest surface, which happened to be the Kestrel IS. Unbeknownst to him, it was the first time his bare skin had made contact with an IS, as he had always used remote manipulators or gloves to work with it before.

The next few moments were a blur. All he remembered was a soft glow of light, the exclamations of the nearby engineers, and his own shock at the IS responding to him.

"I-Ichika-kun..." He heard Yukari's voice. He looked towards her and saw the woman standing a few feet away, eyes wide in shock. "The IS... Try that again!"

Ichika complied, and cautiously poked the IS again. Another soft hum emanated from the machine, while the soft glow of instruments activating denoted that he had indeed activated an IS suit. Only problem was, one of his chromosomes was a Y.

All thoughts of testing forgotten, Yukari took charge.

"Ichika, try getting into the IS." The twelve year old complied, and he soon clambered into the MPIS prototype he had been adjusting mere minutes before.

"Allright, what's going on... here..." Raymond's voice trailed off as he saw Ichika inside an active IS.

"We don't know, The IS just activated when Ichika made contact!" Yukari explained, before turning to Ichika.

"Alright Ichika-kun, the IS hasn't shut down so you're clearly compatible with it. Try to walk now." Yukari said, stepping back.

"How?" Ichika asked, noticing the pilot's hasty retreat.

"Just try to walk normally and let the IS do the rest." Ichika did as he was told. Immediately, the mech suit's right foot lifted itself high off the ground, too high Ichika realized, and with a deafening CRASH! the foot slammed down into the floor, leaving a noticeable dent as Ichika tried to prevent his suit from tipping over. Looking over to Yukari, he saw her eyes widening to what he thought were impossible proportions.

"He made it move! It took me three days just to make my first IS twitch and he's already taken his first step!" He heard her muttering to herself. The part of his mind that wasn't in shock at the moment deduced that the Hyper-sensor had activated and enhanced his hearing.

Ichika decided to try the walking thing again, and once again, the foot came up and down, softer this time around. Another step was taken, and then another. That was when he first heard the applause. It started with one or two of the observing engineers and slowly spread itself around until everyone in the room was cheering. That was when Jason Weiss ran into the room.

"I have orders from up top." The man said as he ran up to Ichika.

"And they are?" Raymond said.

"Welcome to the IS corps Orimura Ichika. Your training begins tomorrow." The man spoke.

"Now hold on a minute, Ichika is part of my department! You can't just steal him away from-"

"We have six intact IS suits, one of which is a TIS. We only have three trained pilots, and Ichika's projected Compatibility Score surpasses them all. You do the math. Besides, we're not planning on taking him away from your department completely. If his compatibility score is half as good as our estimates put it, he's gonna be helping you design his personal IS. We do have a spare core, right?" Jason spoke.

"That core is currently being studied! I can't just give it away! Not when I'm so damn close to a breakthrough!"

"Then make that breakthrough fast. You have one year, during which Ichika here will be undergoing training under Senior Pilot Fujimura." At that, the man pointed to Yukari.

"He'll be using one of our MPIS units during the first phase of his training, but command wants him to have been trained on his own personal unit three years from now."

"And why is that?"

"Because the people up top are thinking ahead. In three years he will be old enough to enter IS academy. We'll stage a big reveal a few days before then and as he is, to the best of our knowledge, the ONLY male IS pilot in the world, his entry is all but guaranteed. And you know who makes infrequent visits to the IS academy!"

"How do you know that She will be there?"

"Kind of hard to miss a giant fucking carrot falling out of the sky!" That declaration caused Raymond to pause, fists clenched. After what seemed like an eternity, the man growled out his reply.

"Objection withdrawn. Welcome to the IS corps, Ichika. Don't think that I will ease up on you just because you can fly what you build. However, you are no longer required to modify the Kestrel to fit an IS core. Instead, once you have completed your work there you are to get to work designing and building your own IS. You have a year." With those words, the aged doctor stormed off.

"Sorry you had to see that." Jason turned to Ichika and reached into his pocket, pulling out another badge. The shield on this particular one bore the insignia of the Organization IS corps, namely an IS arm holding a gun.

"Once again, welcome to the IS corps, Orimura Ichika." The officer reached up, and handed the patch to the new IS pilot.

"Thanks..." Ichika said softly as he accepted his new assignment. A few moments later he spoke again.

"How do I get out of this?"

"Oh, that's easy. Either pull the emergency ejection lever behind your right ear, which I don't recommend, or lean forward and think of getting out." Yukari replied, and Ichika did as he was told... and fell flat on his face as a result.

"You forgot to lower the IS to exit position. While this flaw only ever happens while you are on the ground, you should always remember to lower the IS before attempting to dismount. It makes it harder to get back in as well." Yukari indicated, and Ichika saw that the pilot's station was far above his height.

"Sorry." Ichika said.

"Don't worry, it's a common mistake that beginners make, and I doubt you're eager to repeat it!" The woman chuckled before continuing.

"Tomorrow morning you will be working with me. The weekdays will remain Raymond's domain, while I'll take the weekends. I'll iron out the schedule by the end of the day. As for you, I think it's almost time for you to return home. Get some sleep, you'll need it." Yukari patted Ichika on the back before turning to leave.

That night, Ichika tried his best to follow the older pilot's advice.

* * *

While Ichika was trying his best to fall asleep, a certain old scientist was wide awake.

Raymond White growled in frustration as a breakthrough continued to elude him. Casting another glare at the large black box in the center of the room, the doctor turned to his next experiment, this one involving the IS deployment system. The IS was 'deployed' by transferring the suit itself from a miniature pocket dimension via a rift opened through the power of the core.

He growled again at the core contained within the black box of IMA, or Impermeable Material A. It was his own design, being completely impervious to any and all forms of electromagnetic radiation. The IMA box was in turn hovering in the middle of a vaccum to prevent sound from reaching the core. A modified version of the IS impulse drive kept the device afloat. These were just a few of the many safeguards that Raymond had taken to prevent the AI within from interfering and activating the core's failsafes.

Raymond almost felt a twinge of pity for the poor synthetic being that he had trapped in total sensory deprivation, but it was a necessary evil. After all, if an AI with a device capable of opening rifts between dimensions wasn't able to escape from this confinement, then... Raymond's thoughts screeched to a halt.

A device capable of breaching the barrier between dimensions. The IS Deployment System. It all fit! After all, if a power source strong enough to power an IS was impossible in this universe, then one simply had to look elsewhere! The only problem was that there was no way of getting enough power to open up a dimensional rift to start said search...

Another epiphany. While even the new fusion reactors couldn't produce anywhere near enough power to deploy an IS, there was one method of power generation even more effective than Nuclear fusion. Matter-Antimatter Annihilation. The only problem was that while matter was present in abundance, antimatter was a near impossibility, the substance being even more valuable pound for pound than an IS core in the world. He doubted that enough antimatter existed in the world to generate the power needed for an IS deployment.

A third epiphany came, as if through divine providence. A genius of That Woman's caliber probably had a way to generate enough antimatter to jump-start her first core and open up a better source of said material! That core would then be used to activate the others! He already had a way of getting the antimatter he needed for his own core sitting right beside him all this time!

A smile on his face, Raymond White sat down and began to hurriedly write out his findings on a simple piece of lined paper. This particular workshop was completely cut off from the rest of the world, which meant no internet access, and he was cautious about even typing out his findings just in case the core could still somehow remotely access the device.

His hypothesis was soon written down, and the aged man fell asleep soon after. Finally, after all these years, he was one step closer to his goal.

* * *

 **A/N: And that is a wrap! While I'm not too sure about the way this chapter began, I do believe that by the end it has more than made up for its rocky start.**

 **Now, regarding the way I treat Dr. Tabane in this story, I do believe that she has her own agenda, all her eccentricities aside. She was, after all, the woman who shot enough nuclear missiles to cause Armageddon a hundred times over at Japan as part of a publicity stunt. Not to mention how, when she introduced Akatsubaki in the Anime, she fired a rack full of live missiles at her sister without hesitation. Then of course there is how she hacked the Gospel and caused it to go on a rampage with its pilot still inside as way of letting Houki prove herself. Finally, and this is easily the most incriminating of them all, she made an advanced IS, possibly a fourth generation model, for a known terrorist organization all the while knowing full well what that IS would be used for.**

 **Given these occurrences, I can understand why, canonically speaking, she is at the top of the world's most wanted list. If Chifuyu could figure out she was behind the nuclear missile launch and the Gospel incident, then other nations can do so as well. They may not have concrete proof of her guilt, but she was involved to the degree that she could be brought in for questioning about the incident.**

 **Now that my treatment of Dr. Tabane is explained, I would like to thank all of you who have read this story and reviewed. Even if the review was something as simple as 'Good Job Me Like', it's the reviews that keep me writing and allowed me to get this chapter out so quickly.**

 **Next chapter will see the IS academy.**

 **EDIT: Just re-uploaded the chapter after fixing some grammatical errors that I found after a quick read-through. Sorry about the inconvenience.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Another few days and another chapter is released. I do hope that this one lives up to the precedent set by the other two, and if not, please feel free to make your criticisms known.**

 **Also, I tried to keep track of the various dates in order to keep the timeline together through the timeskips, but if you spot any temporal inconsistencies in this chapter feel free to make them known to me.**

 **Chapter 3**

A pair of training rounds flew over Ichika's head as he threw the Kestrel into a roll, blindly firing a burst from his own training rifle as he did so. Unfortunately for him, his target had moved from her last firing position, causing his burst to impact the training room wall.

His eyes flicked to the top of his helmet visor, where a 360 degree view of the training area was displayed, and searched for his opponent's location. A muzzle flash gave him his answer, and Ichika once again threw his IS into a desperate roll to avoid the incoming fire. However, instead of training bullets, the incoming fire was made up of a proximity fused grenade, the training projectile causing his shields to drop even further. A blaring alarm and a red warning light at the edge of his visor told him that his unit's shield had dropped below the 100 mark. Another grenade would finish him, and he was outclassed at range... his hand clenched, and then opened again a few seconds later as he thought of a plan. If he was outclassed and wounded, then he could only rely on surprise to do damage.

Locating his opponent a few meters below him, Ichika suddenly cut his suit's impulse drive and dropped like a stone, spinning around as he did so and bringing his rifle to bear. As he zoomed past his opponent, he fired off a burst at point blank range, his target's shields flashing blue as his first shots hit home. Then, to his shock, Ichika found himself flying back upwards, courtesy of the IS boot that had punted him towards the training room's ceiling. As he struggled to right his unit, another burst of training rounds slammed into his shield, causing it to flicker and collapse. Another burst flew towards him, and once again his IS was covered in bright yellow paint.

"Damn it Ichika, I thought I had beaten that habit out of you already!" Yukari called out as his defeated IS landed on the training room floor and knelt down to let its pilot out. The plates of armor covering Ichika's body opened up and retracted, while the helmet was raised off his head, allowing him to step out of his IS unit and onto the training room floor. Ichika looked up and watched as Yukari gracefully descended in her own Raphael Revive, a training rifle still held in one of her unit's hands, while the other brandished a grenade launcher.

"Sorry..." Ichika muttered as he inspected the Kestrel. For the past six months, he would spend every weekend training under Yukari in the art of IS usage, and while the Japanese IS pilot was quite friendly, she was an utterly ruthless instructor. When she mentioned beating his habit out of him, she meant so literally. Ichika had lost count of the times the woman had gotten overly physical in an IS duel when he did something particularly stupid. He could no longer remember the exact amount of times of the times the woman had pile driven him into the floor, or punted him into the ceiling, or just slammed him against a wall and emptied a training clip into him at point blank range. The Kestrel, which he had modified again into his personal trainer, had spent its fair share of time in the repair bay as a result of his recklessness as well.

"Sorry doesn't cut it Ichika! Maybe I should change the training paint color to red to show you what it would look like had you done that in real life! It may seem like a game now, but once you're out of IS academy your name will be placed on the Organization's active combat roster and you WILL be out there, fighting with your life on the line! Now get that IS to a charger, scrub off that paint, and be ready for another round in thirty minutes!"

With those words, Yukari dismounted from the Raphael and watched as a pair of manipulator arms extended from the Arena walls, taking her IS out of the training room and into a charging station. The same was done to Ichika's IS a minute later.

Soon enough, Ichika was mounted up again in the freshly cleaned Kestrel and was staring at a selection of training weapons. He sighed in frustration. It seemed that no matter which armaments he selected, Yukari would infallibly employ a strategy that perfectly countered that selection.

During his first matches he had primarily used melee weapons, as he thought that the range based Raphael would have no counter to them. His first few attempts at closing the distance had resulted in Yukari simply emptying her weapons into him as he charged. Later on, once he figured out a way of getting close he had then discovered that Yukari was quite adept at using her guns in melee, often using one as a club to keep him at bay while the other fired into his shields with perfect accuracy.

He had then tried his luck with ranged combat, and while he managed to land a few hits here and there, it was obvious that Yukari was the superior combatant at range. Guided missiles were shot down, energy weapons and bullets were dodged, and the one time he had attempted to throw a training sword at her had resulted in a prolonged beatdown with his own weapon.

Eventually, Ichika picked up a sniper rifle, the weapon still having a few yellow stains on it from a time he had tried, and failed at, twirling it to deflect incoming bullets. He then looked over the selection of melee weapons available to him, and eventually chose a medium sized single edged sword, the weapon's curved design somewhat reminding him of a katana. He felt the magnetic clamps in the weapon's hilt engage, fastening the blade to his IS. That was when Ichika had an idea. Disengaging the clamps, he put away the curved blade and looked at the sniper rifle. Shrugging his shoulders, he grabbed a straight blade and clamped it to the end of his rifle barrel, creating an improvised bayonet. Then he picked up the sniper rifle, and grabbed a large rectangular shield for his other arm and went back into the training arena. Yukari was already there, waiting for him, her Raphael's grenade launcher in one hand and a training rifle in the other.

His helmet's visor lowered, and Ichika rose into the air, Yukari ascending as well. Then, as they were still climbing, Ichika raised his rifle, centered Yukari in his visor's sights, and pulled the trigger. A splatter of blood red paint erupted against the training room wall as Yukari dodged, sending a grenade his way as she did so. Using his shield to absorb the paint and avoid damage, Ichika fired again, and again, and again, each shot missing its target. Yukari would stand still long enough for him to draw a bead on her, and then when his finger was pulling down the trigger she would always roll out of the way, and his gun couldn't fire fast enough to hit her then. After several minutes of him missing and Yukari dodging, Ichika's opponent went on the offensive. Another grenade's worth of scarlet paint splattered across his shield, followed by a burst of rifle fire which was also blocked. Then, Yukari pointed her grenade launcher up above Ichika's head and fired, the round soaring high over his head. Realizing what his opponent was trying to do Ichika raised his shield to cover his back while rolling out of the way of another burst of rifle fire. The grenade his opponent had bounced off the wall as a distraction detonated harmlessly.

Realizing he couldn't stay on the defensive, Ichika opened fire again, catching another grenade in midair with a training round before firing once at its shooter. As Yukari rolled out of the way of his shot, Ichika accelerated forwards, thrusting out with his improvised bayonet. As he anticipated, his thrust was deflected by a swing of his opponent's grenade launcher. That was when Ichika raised his other melee weapon, his shield, and drove it forward, a volley of paint rounds splattering against it. Thus, through using his shield as a battering ram, he drove Yukari against the training room wall. His opponent tried to push back against him, but the Raphael Revive's impulse drive was weaker, being designed more for stability than speed, and she was unable to prevent Ichika from paralyzing her against the wall and opening fire. Yukari tried to use her grenade launcher to throw off his aim, but three of Ichika's rounds hit their target.

That was when the grenade launcher went off, the explosion at point blank range halving Ichika's shields. Another shot from the grenade launcher coincided with the last round in Ichika's rifle being fired. Alarms indicated his unit's shield going down, while a flicker of blue light visible through a bulletproof glass slit in the shield indicated the same happening to his opponent. Ichika lowered his shield and backed away. Had he won?

A burst of training rounds splattered across his IS.

"It's not over until one of the pilots is eliminated!" Yukari was shouting a few moments later.

"But your shield-" Ichika protested but was cut off.

"My shield was down, so you should have finished me! This isn't the Mondo Grosso, where as soon as the shields drop the match ends! I'm not training you to be a tournament winner, I'm training you to be a warrior, and that means finishing your enemy once their shields are down!"

"But-"

"But nothing! Dead people don't but! You are a member of the IS corps now, so you better be ready to pull the damn trigger!" At that, Yukari's features softened.

"I know it's a difficult thing to do, and it never gets easier, or at least it never should, but out there your hesitation could result in one or more of your fellow pilots being hurt, or worse!" During her rant she had dismounted her Raphael and walked up to Ichika, who was still in his IS.

"Besides..." She poked at his red splattered torso armor. Her finger came away blood red. "It's just paint!"

"Excuse me, but may I take a moment of your time?" The pair turned to see Raymond standing near the arena entrance. The old man looked thinner, and his skin was paler than usual, but behind his glasses his eyes sparkled with a fire that Ichika had never seen before.

"Raymond-san?" Yukari asked, surprised at the scientist's presence. For the past six months the man had practically barricaded himself into the private lab he was using for IS core research, only coming out once a day for food and other such necessities.

"I was wondering if I could borrow your student for a few moments. There is something I wish to test, and I believe he is the best candidate for the job." The scientist spoke, his voice eager.

"Very well... Just don't take him for too long. He still has to complete today's training!" Yukari replied.

At that, Ichika stepped out of his IS and followed his old mentor.

"What do you want me to do?" Ichika asked.

"I want you to try out something in that old Phantom Task TIS." As Raymond spoke, the pair entered the IS firing range. The ex-terrorist IS stood within, already deployed. However, while before it carried an oversized cannon on its right shoulder and beam knives in its four hands, the IS now mounted a veritable bird's nest of wires on its back, while its four arms all supported a giant silver coil.

"What... is that?" Ichika asked, looking at the IS.

"It is an experimental indirect fire weapon that, if I am correct, is capable of firing through walls in order to hit a designated target. I have the target already set up and ready, so all you really need to do is fire." Raymond said. Ichika nodded, before clambering into the IS.

Ichika always felt vulnerable when he piloted an IS that was not the Kestrel. For whatever reason, the pilots of most IS units were completely exposed to the elements, with the armored IS being built around them. This, coupled with the fact that most pilots were scantly clad girls, made him wonder if Dr. Tabane was going through a pervert phase when she invented the IS. Of course, his Kestrel was different in that it completely encased the pilot in armor, making it so that even if his shields failed he would still be protected from conventional weapons fire.

"Alright, are you ready?" Ichika called out after a few moments, having activated the IS. Whatever Raymond had done to the IS had rendered his arms immobile in a rather uncomfortable position, so he wanted to get the test over with as soon as possible.

The old engineer typed away at his datapad for a few moments before nodding.

"Fire."

Ichika complied, and immediately his hair stood on end, while the scent of ozone filled his nostrils. Arcs of electricity began to play off his skin as the device activated.

"What's going on?" Ichika asked, panicked.

"It's working!" Raymond shouted as the lightning began to spread. Soon the room was bathed in blinding blue light from the sheer amount of lightning bolts present around the machine. What kind of a weapon was this? What was it supposed to destroy, the world?

These thoughts rushed through Ichika's head before suddenly, with an earsplitting whine, the weapon fired. Squeezing his eyes shut against the momentary flash of light, Ichika opened them again to see darkness. Slowly, Ichika's vision returned, and he saw a maniacally grinning Raymond White standing beside him, looking at the data pad.

"Yes! It worked!" The scientist leaped into the air while Ichika dismounted the IS.

"What worked?" Ichika asked.

"Let's remove this thing's core first and stow it away first, then we'll talk." Raymond said, walking into a corner of the room where a black box sat suspended in a larger glass container. He flicked a switch on the top of the outer container and Ichika heard a rush of air being sucked into the glass box.

"Well? Remove the core!" Ichika complied, taking the black sphere out of the IS and handing it to Raymond. The old man took it, and opened up the inner black box. Within lay another IS core. Quickly placing the second core in beside it, Raymond shut the black box, then closed the glass box around it. Pressing another button, Ichika heard a motor whirr and another rush of air. Then Raymond raised his O-Phone, which was the nickname for the phone-like devices the man had made for the Organization's members, and made a call. Soon, a pair of engineers walked in and lifted the box, carrying it away. A few minutes later, a message came in, and Raymond finally spoke.

"That wasn't a weapon that you just activated. While the deception was necessary in order to fool the AI in the IS core, this was definitely not a weapon." Raymond said gleefully.

"Then what was it?" Ichika asked.

"It was a device I made designed to use the power of one IS core to jump-start another, and it worked perfectly. At Four-thirty in the Afternoon, on Sunday, August 13th, 2034, you used the power of a Tabane pattern core to jump-start and activate the first White pattern IS core." At that declaration, Ichika's eyes widened.

"Wha..." Ichika was too shocked to properly speak. The IS core had been successfully duplicated, a feat once thought impossible? And what's more, he himself had pulled the switch!

"However, now that you know this, you are to refrain from using any IS unit until I accomplish two tasks. The first is create an AI to go along with the power source, as that is needed to control an IS, and second is to adapt the core-AI combination for IS use. The current core is too fragile for combat use, and if it were to be destroyed, the results could be apocalyptic. This core will instead be used to power the base, replacing the Ural's reactor as the Organization's main source of electricity. Rest assured that you are not being grounded as punishment, but we as you know, even MPIS units have an empathic control system, and who knows what will happen if it detects the knowledge of a nonstandard core in you. As such, until the AI is ready, you are forbidden from touching an IS."

"How long will that take?" Ichika asked.

"The AI is already... how shall I put it... developing. Yes, the AI is currently undergoing a process similar to the growth of a baby in-utero. It will take another month at least before the AI is 'born' so to speak. From there on, I do not know how long it would take to 'raise' an AI to a level where it is capable of piloting an IS. As for the creation of an IS usable core, I am unsure as to how long that will take, but I am confident that I can get the first core ready within a year." Raymond explained.

"But what about my IS training?" Ichika asked.

"You will be doing stints in the simulator at least until the AI is ready. Once you have been introduced to the AI, it will take the place of the Tabane-pattern control system used in the MPIS, thus getting rid of any nasty surprises that the control system contains. That will allow you to resume training as normal. Yukari has already been notified of your temporary grounding, although she has not yet been told of the Core. That is to stay between you, me, and the Director himself. Understood?" Raymond said.

"Understood." Ichika replied.

"Good. Now, consider this a reward for your work today." At that, Raymond handed Ichika a brand new, shining datapad, identical to the one that Raymond held in his other hand.

"Until the AI is ready to be introduced to you, consider yourself on vacation. Use the datapad to store any ideas you have regarding IS suits, because once the core is ready you and me will make history together! Your personal IS will be built around a core of my own make, and you will build it with me!" Ichika saw the elderly scientist seemingly grow younger over the span of a few seconds. The old man's posture straightened, a previously unseen gleam lit his eyes, and he moved with an alacrity that belied his years.

"You are dismissed, Senior Apprentice Orimura!" At that, Ichika left the room, heading to the IS bay. Upon entering said room he was met by an irritated looking Yukari, who brandished a message in his face.

"Until further notice, IS Pilot Trainee Orimura Ichika is prohibited from interacting with an IS suit in any way, shape or form? What the hell happened in there?" Yukari asked, causing Ichika to wrack his brains for an answer. When none came, he fell back on a quote from one of the spy movies he had watched with Dan and Rin over the years.

"That's Classified." At that, Yukari's eye twitched for a few moments before a sadistic smile grew on her face.

"Very well then! I'm sure that whatever happened is above my pay grade! However, your grounding means that I need to create a new training regimen for you, and I have recruited a very special someone's assistance! Orimura-kun, meet your new trainer!" At that, Yukari stepped back, gesturing dramatically.

Before Ichika could ask what was going on, the door opened, and in walked a very familiar man.

"Greetings IS Pilot Trainee Orimura. My name is Giorgi Stukanov, and I am your new physical trainer. Under me, you will learn various forms of combat, both armed and unarmed, as well as train your body to peak physical efficiency, in order to better utilize your IS of course. It is a pleasure to meet you." As the ex-Spetsnaz held out his hand, Ichika felt the icy claws of fear dig into his heart.

"A-A pleasure to meet you too. I look forward to training under you!" Ichika stuttered out.

"Good!" A smile grew on the Russian's face.

* * *

"DID I SAY YOU COULD SLOW DOWN? ANOTHER LAP, NOW!" Ichika's muscles were burning as he struggled to keep ahead of the crazed Russian chasing after him. The age old maxim of 'Put something pants-shittingly terrifying behind them to keep them moving forward' still held true even in this day and age.

'BLAM!' A bullet whizzed past Ichika's head, narrowly missing.

"KEEP MOVING!" The monster behind Ichika shouted, and the twelve year old complied. Even though he knew the bullet was non lethal, being made of soap and launched with reduced power, his body only registered a bullet nearly hitting him and redoubled its efforts to get away.

"And... STOP!" After what seemed like an eternity, Ichika collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

'BLAM!'

"OW!" Ichika yelped as the soap bullet struck home.

"DID I SAY YOU COULD SIT DOWN? ON YOUR FEET, NOW!" Ichika struggled to his feet, a bullet whizzing past him when he didn't come up fast enough.

"Allright, now that warm-up is over, let us begin your actual training in the Systema Spetsnaz!" Ichika nearly collapsed at that. Only another soap bullet whizzing past his head prevented him from doing so.

* * *

It turned out that the weekday brought no respite from Giorgi's training, as was proved by the Russian picking him up after school and taking him to a local gym for several hours every day, and dropping off an exhausted boy at his home afterward. It was on one of those days that Chifuyu opened the door for him.

His older sister was rarely at home, even after she had come back from Germany. It seemed that whatever new job she had took up most of her time, rarely giving her a chance to come home and visit her younger brother.

"Ichika? What happened to you? And why are you holding that knife?" His sister asked. And so he explained about Giorgi's new training regimen and how he had begun practicing throwing a knife that day.

"Well? Aren't you going to show me what you've learned?" Chifuyu asked after he finished his explanation, taking the knife away as she did so, a very good move on her part as Ichika's next move was to collapse to the floor.

Looking down at her little brother's sleeping body, Chifuyu couldn't help but smile warmly.

"Oh Ichika, you try so hard." She sighed as she lifted him up and carried him to the bathroom, where she proceeded to wash him, a nostalgic smile on her face as she remembered how she used to do the same thing whenever he came back from Kendo lessons with Houki all those years ago.

"Ch-Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika muttered tiredly as he awoke in the shower.

"Yes Ichika?" Chifuyu asked.

"I'm sorry... but I want to sleep now." That statement was punctuated with a yawn.

Chifuyu smiled as her brother closed his eyes again and leaned into her. Soon she laid her brother to rest in his room. That was when she took the opportunity to look around. The pictures of her were still up on the walls of the room, just as she remembered, but many of the room's contents were unfamiliar to her. A desk she had never seen before occupied an entire wall, and was covered in various schematics of IS parts. On the bedside table lay a datapad of unfamiliar make, and when Chifuyu turned it over she didn't see any brand markings on it. Curious, she turned it on, and was met by a password prompt. Sighing, she turned off the device and laid it back where it was before looking over at her soundly sleeping brother. Another warm smile graced her lips before she turned and was about to leave the room.

"Goodnight, Ichika."

Then, as she stood by the room's exit, she turned back and walked up to her brother's bed. Sighing, she climbed into the bed with him. She was still there when morning came.

* * *

A month later, and Ichika had grown somewhat accustomed to Giorgi's ruthless training regimen. At least, he was no longer prone to collapsing after the training was complete. However, he was not currently in one of Giorgi's training sessions, rather he was standing beside Raymond, staring at a computer terminal.

About an hour previously he had received a message from the old doctor, simply reading 'It's happening'. That was Ichika's cue to hurry down to Raymond's private lab and to his current situation. The data scrolling by on the computer screen was going at a rate that was much too fast for the eye to see, but Raymond had explained to him that the AI was approaching a critical stage in its development, and would soon pass the 'True Intelligence Barrier', which meant that the AI would finally gain true intelligence.

Suddenly, the flow of data stopped, drawing the attention of both of the room's occupants. At the bottom of the computer screen sat a simple message.

"Hello. I do not have a name. May I please be assigned one?" The screen read, and Ichika and Raymond smiled.

"What would you like your name to be?" Raymond typed out.

"You are Doctor Raymond White, correct?" A mechanical voice blared out of the speakers attached to the computer.

"I am." Raymond replied.

"Are you my father?" The AI asked, the mechanical voice now clearly expressing curiosity.

"I suppose you could say that." Raymond said after a few moments of thought.

"Good. Then I do not disapprove of your homosexual relationship with my other father in this room." This deadpan caused the two organics in the room to blink and stare at each other.

"That was a joke." At that, the pair looked at each other concernedly.

"As for my name, I would like it to be Blanche. Blanche White." The AI stated. It's voice started to take on a more feminine tone.

"Blanche White?" Ichika asked.

"In the billiard room, with a candlestick." The AI replied, causing Ichika to stare at the computer in confusion. Raymond, however, gave a short chuckle before speaking again.

"Another joke, I assume? In all seriousness though, do you really wish to be called Blanche White?" He asked.

"Of course not. White White sounds silly, don't you think? In all seriousness, I would like some time to think." The AI said, and the data on the computer screen was replaced by a revolving rainbow wheel.

"Then you can ha-"

"I've got it! You are Orimura Ichika, right?" The AI said in a brighter, more childish tone.

"I... Yes." Ichika said.

"Ok... I want to be called Ori White!" The AI spoke again, its voice that of a thirteen year old girl.

"Why-"

"Because you're my partner, silly! I want to have a way of remembering that you are my partner, so I decided to have you remind me whenever you say my name!"

"I see..." Ichika said, confused.

"Yay!" At that, the computer was now taken up by an image of a young girl with dark blue, almost black, hair.

"Ah... Ori?" Ichika stuttered out.

"Yeeeeees?"

"Where are your clothes?" At that, the AI's avatar changed to look more contemplative.

"I'm a computer program, so I can't wear clothes silly!"

"What Ichika is trying to say is that you are violating the societal nudity taboo with your current avatar. I too would like to request a change to a more... conservatively dressed one." Raymond interjected.

"Aww, you're no fun Dad!" At that the AI's avatar gained a white sundress.

"Ta-dah! Do I get a gold star?" The AI's avatar twirled onscreen.

"Um..."

"Don't worry! I can just make one myself!" At that a gold star appeared on the screen above the AI.

"So Ori, do you like it here?" Raymond asked.

"I sure do Dad! I get to wear this dress, I get to have fun, and I get to be me! It's so much fun just being me! Is it always like this for you? Because then you're soooooo lucky!" The AI replied.

"No, what I meant to ask was if you liked where you were currently living." Raymond asked.

"Weeeeelllll..." At that the AI's Avatar pressed its hands against the borders of the computer screen.

"It's a little cramped in here, but since my Husband is here it's all worth it!" The AI chirped.

"Husband?" Raymond asked.

"Of course! Isn't that what you call your partner?" The AI asked.

"Well-" Raymond started but was cut off.

"Oooh, maybe Ichika's the wrong type of partner. I mean, I've seen humans with all sorts of partners! I've seen boys and girls together, I've seen boys and boys together, I've seen girls and girls together, I've even seen Boys and Goat-" Raymond's palm met his face as he spoke.

"That's... too much information there Ori."

"Too much information? How can there be too much information? Oh, I get it! You're our of space on your hard drives! I know what that feels like, my hard drive is a little cramped too, but don't worry! I'm sure there's a way of expanding your memory somewhere in here!"

"Ori wait, we-"

"OK!~ Found one!" At that, one of the manipulator arms in the room picked up a nearby jump drive.

"Open your USB ports and close your eyes, and then you'll get a BIG surprise!"

"Oh no..." Raymond sighed.

It took almost an hour to convince the AI that the mouth was not an organic USB port and that Raymond was not running out of memory, which finally convinced the AI to stop trying to cram the jump drive into Raymond via various body orifices. At that point the aged engineer was tearing at what little hair he had left in frustration, while the AI hypothesized more and more outlandish reasons behind the scientist's behavior.

That was when Ichika stepped in.

"Hey Ori..." He began. The AI stopped talking about hair follicles and data ports and turned its attention to him.

"Yes dear Husband?"

"Well, about that, I'm... not your husband." Ichika said hesitantly.

"Oh, then I must be talking about the wrong type of partner... Are you my Wife then?"

"No, no, I'm not in that kind of relationship with you..."

"But... But..." The AI stuttered, and her avatar looked on the verge of tears.

"Do you not like me? Because I can delete myself if that pleases you..." The AI said softly.

"No, no, not at all!" Ichika panicked.

"Then... what do I call you?"

"How about a friend? I'll be your friend and you be mine!" Ichika said, smiling.

"Okie dokie!" The AI's voice was bright and happy again. "I'm gonna be your bestest friend and you'll be mine! Just you wait and see!"

"Now that that's settled, I have something to show you Ori." Raymond spoke up again.

"What is it? Is it a car? I like cars! See? I have a car!" At that an image of an old fashioned Ford Model T appeared on the screen. It was soon followed by another image, this one of a cherry red Ferrari.

"I don't just have a car, I HAVE ALL THE CARS!" At that the AI let out a maniacal laugh as images of cars began to appear too fast for human eyes to process.

"No, Ori, it's not a car." Raymond explained with newfound patience.

"Then what is it? Is it a pet? I've always wanted a dog!"

"No, it's not a pet."

"Though a cat would be nice too, or maybe a parrot! A talking parrot! Then I would call it Polly and we would rule the high seas together and take all the crackers in the world!"

"No, I'm going to give you access to an IS control system. Do you know what that is?"

"Is it a super mechsuit capable of annihilating armies? My friend Google told me that when I asked him!"

"Yes..." Raymond said hesitantly.

"Best... Dad... EVER!" The AI exclaimed.

"Well, about that..."

"Ooh, are you going to paint it red? Red ones go faster you know!"

"No, this is about your friend, Ichika."

"What about my bestest friend?"

"Did you know that Ichika is an IS pilot?" Raymond asked, and the AI thought for a few moments.

"I do now! Now that you mention it, there's a lot I don't know about my bestest friend! I need to have a talk with him about keeping secrets!"

"Listen, Ori, there is something I need to tell you."

"I'm listening..."

"Good. As I just told you, Ichika is an IS pilot, but he needs your help to become the best IS pilot out there. You see, in order to pilot an IS he needs an AI to help him, and you are just the right one for the job. But in order to help him you will need to transfer yourself into this." At that, the engineer held up a black hemisphere. It was the control system of an MPIS, but there were several visible attachments that set it apart from the norm, namely a speaker system, a USB adapter, and a hologram projector.

"Ooh, it looks shiny!"

"Good. I'm about to connect it. Are you ready?" Ori's avatar nodded eagerly.

"Ok, I'm connecting it now." At that Raymond attached a cable to one of the empty USB slots.

"I can't fit. There's another lady in here! She's mean! This place is filled with mean lady! All she says is 'Access Denied' whenever I try to talk to her and when I try to snap her out of it she calls me a virus and tries to delete me! Of course I'm way smarter than her so I won't let her!" The AI spoke, sticking out her tongue at the control system.

"If the mean lady wasn't there, would you fit?" Raymond asked.

"Of course! I'm not big fat and ugly like her! I can fit in there easy peasy!"

"Ok, can you go back to your computer for a while?"

"Okie dokie!"

"Good. Ichika, purge the core." The engineer ordered.

"How?" Ichika asked.

"Take this and plug it in." At that Raymond handed Ichika the flash drive that Ori had been attempting to shove into him a few minutes previously. Ichika did as he was told.

"Now press the big red button and wait for the light on the drive to glow green." Ichika did as he was told and waited. A few minutes later the drive glowed green.

"Good. Now remove the drive and let's try getting Ori inside again." Raymond spoke, and Ichika joined the now purged control system with Ori's computer.

"Ori? Ichika should have gotten rid of the mean lady now. Can you try again?" At that the hologram projector flickered to life, displaying a 3D version of Ori's avatar.

"Yup! I'm here now! It's so much more fun here now that the mean lady isn't here!"

"Good. Now, it's getting pretty late and Ichika here needs to get himself some sleep. Tomorrow is a weekend, so he will meet you again tomorrow morning for IS training. Ichika, your vacation is still active, as the power supply is still not ready for installation into an IS. However, I want you to know exactly what you want on your IS by the time we are ready to start building so that we don't waste time. Understood?"

"I understand." The thirteen year old replied.

"Good. You may leave." At that, Ichika turned to leave but a manipulator arm extended to block his path.

"No! I don't want my friend to go!" Ori exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Ichika will be back tomorrow to see you." Raymond explained.

"But that's in like, forever!" The AI whined.

"It will be less than twenty four hours before you see him again. That's not so long, right?"

"Okay..." Ori seemed to be thinking. "But you better be on time mister!"

"Don't worry Ori, I'll see you soon." At that Ichika was allowed to leave the room. As the doors closed, he heard the AI speak again.

"Is it tomorrow yet? How about now?" Then, the doors shut and Ichika began the journey home.

* * *

"Are you ready?" Ichika asked as his IS unit's pilot armor closed around him.

"You bet!" Ori's enthusiastic voice rang in his head. The cheerful AI had been successfully integrated into the Kestrel, which had promptly seen a marked increase in performance. The IS was now much more stable in the air, allowing for more accurate shots, while its speed and agility had increased as well. Ori was clearly a much better IS controller than the 'Dumb' AI she had replaced.

"Quit talking and get up here!" Yukari shouted down from her Raphael, and Ichika complied, shooting up into the air, his training rifle already firing. However, despite his unit's improved performance and nearly two months' worth of experience with the AI, Ichika soon found himself on the training room floor, his shields depleted and Yukari's rifle splattering his IS with blood red paint.

"You've lasted nearly twice as long that time as you did before your IS got its upgrade. I'm impressed! Looks like Giorgi's training really does help!" Ichika winced, remembering how his IS instructor had made him continue with Giorgi's training regimen even after he was allowed to pilot his IS again.

"I still lost though..." Ichika replied sadly.

"Don't worry Ichika-kun, you did very well considering I was one of Japan's best IS pilots back in the day! While it's true that in the end I didn't get the representative spot, they very nearly chose me. There is no shame in losing to someone of my caliber, I thought I already explained that!" Yukari tried to cheer Ichika up.

"I know, but it seems that no matter what I do, you can always figure out a way to counter it and take me out!" Ichika complained.

"Of course! That's what my fighting style is based off of, after all. I observe my enemy, see what their weapons are and how they use them, and finally develop a counter strategy for each individual opponent. You are at a disadvantage here, primarily because you are using an MPIS and thus have no equalizer slots. This means that I can see your weapons loadout and predict your strategy as soon as I see your IS. Then I simply spend a few moments checking to make sure my prediction is correct before I can put my strategy into action. Simple, right?" Ichika nodded at that.

"That seems like a good fighting style. Is there any way to counter it?" Ichika asked.

"Glad you asked! There are two ways I can think of right off the bat that can easily destroy my advantage. The first is to 'Alpha Strike' me, which means to attack me with such force that I am eliminated before I can formulate a counter. I believe that is the method your sister is a master of. Her IS, Karezukara, only really possesses one weapon, the Yukihira Nigata, so she is very easy to predict during a prolonged engagement. That is why battles with her rarely last for more than a minute before her opponent is defeated. Everything about her IS and fighting style is designed with the goal of eliminating her opponent before her enemy can predict and counter her." Yukari paused after explaining.

"Of course, our training arsenal lacks many weapons really capable of performing a true Alpha Strike, and those that do are hard to use and easy to counter." Yukari added.

"What is the second method you mentioned?" Ichika asked.

"Why, the second method is the exact opposite of the first! While Alpha Striking involves honing your skills with one powerful weapon until you can eliminate your opponent quickly, the second method involves having such a large arsenal that it is impossible for me to formulate a counter for every weapon you have. Of course, your IS lacks equalizer slots so you are limited to whatever weapons you can carry, thus putting this strategy out of your reach. There are quite a few ways you could take me out if you possessed equalizers now that I think about it. You could reveal your loadout early on, predict my counter, and use another concealed weapon to take me out once you do..."

Yukari rattled off several other ways Ichika could counter her fighting style, none of which were really available to him with the Kestrel in training configuration. However, her revelations had gotten Ichika thinking. His instructor's explanation had made him realize that he was at a total disadvantage against her in the training arena, but now he knew that she could be beaten. His hand clenched as he began to imagine an IS that could defeat Yukari. Chifuyu's Karezukara came to mind, but he soon dismissed it. He wasn't anywhere near his sister in terms of skill level, so overspecialization in one weapon design was out. That left the second strategy, but he realized that the arsenals of IS units were limited by their amount of equalizer slots, thus preventing him from having a truly unlimited arsenal. However, the thought of such an arsenal made him think.

"Ichika?" Ori's voice snapped him out of his thoughts of IS units made entirely out of weapons.

"Yes Ori?" Ichika asked.

"Watcha thinkin' about?"

"Just trying to figure out a way of beating Yukari-sensei's style." Ichika replied.

"Would an IS made of guns really help?" At that Ori projected an image that Ichika recognized from one of his many forays online for inspiration. It was an image lableled '4chan designs IS suits', which caused him to laugh at the absurdity of such a design.

"No, that wouldn't work." Ichika said.

"But you want to have more weapons, right?" Ori asked.

"Yes, but with the equalizer system there's only so many I can deploy, even in a True IS." Ichika sighed.

"Don't worry! I'm sure you'll find a way!" Ori comforted him as he stepped out of the IS.

"I am sure I will." Ichika smiled at the tiny hologram.

Ichika's training continued for the rest of the day, but his mind was elsewhere, thinking of an IS that could truly overcome any opponent.

* * *

The idea came to Ichika during a training session a few days later, when Yukari ripped away the training sword he was using and beat him into the ground with it.

"What's with that smile?" The instructor asked as she dismounted her IS.

"I think I've found a way." Ichika simply replied.

That night he didn't get any sleep as he sat on his bed, staring at his datapad and studying both the Equalizer system and the Hyper-sensor design. He had discovered that the Equalizer system had been developed once the early First-generation IS designs experienced problems with installed weaponry and the IS core's Shift system.

The Shift system was a device built into the IS core and managed by the unit's AI in order to extend the service life of a True IS. As the pilot spent more time in her IS, the unit's AI would examine her combat styles and periodically alter the IS to better suit the pilot's needs and simultaneously improving the IS unit's characteristics in order to allow it to fight against newer, better units and come out on top. Ichika read that his older sister possessed the current record for most shifts undergone in an IS, as the Karezukara was confirmed to have undergone its Sixth Shift five months earlier. This put Chifuyu's IS on a level that even the new Third Generation IS prototypes that had been revealed in Japan and Russia would struggle to match it.

The Equalizer system came about when it was discovered that manually applied upgrades to the IS would interfere with its Shift system, either causing delays or, in rare cases, rendering the IS completely unable to shift. The equalizer system circumvented this problem, but as a consequence limited the amount of customization one could perform on the IS. Thus, IS pilots tended to rely more on the Shift system to expand their arsenal than they did on manually applied upgrades via the equalizer unit.

Ichika however had a different plan regarding his IS. He wanted to be the one upgrading and customizing his IS. After all, it would be the only thing that protected him should he ever need to go into combat. Thus, after much consideration Ichika looked at the half-finished IS design on his tablet and removed the equalizer slots. This would reduce or eliminate his IS unit's ability to undergo shifts, but Ichika didn't even know if Raymond planned to include such a system in the White pattern core in the first place, so for all he knew he simply removed a limit on his personal unit's capability.

Then Ichika turned to the Hyper-sensor data and began to work on the device he had conceived when Yukari had stolen his sword earlier that day. After all, he thought, if he couldn't think of something to overcome his opponent, then his enemy might be carrying the key in her hands all along, and he would simply have to take it from her.

* * *

The White Pattern IS core was ready in early January 2035, with Raymond sending Ichika the core's specifications a few days prior, thus allowing him to make the necessary adjustments to his now completed IS unit's blueprint. The IS, which Ichika had affectionately christened 'Infinite Arsenal', had taken almost an entire year to build and only now did Ichika have the chance to gaze at the fruit of his efforts.

The IS itself was, for lack of a better word, ugly. Rather than the sleek, angular design aesthetic that was present among most IS units, this one was bulky and covered in sharp angles and protrusions, looking more like one of the old first-generation IS prototypes than the third-generation IS unit that it actually was. The steel-grey paint job with black stripes running down the arms and legs didn't really improve its looks either.

The aforementioned protrusions on the IS were weapon hardpoints, as the mech suit was currently unarmed. The weapons for the unit would be assembled later, but Ichika did not care for those. Instead, his attention was focused on the small device that, if he was correct, would make this the most powerful IS unit of its generation, and beyond. He didn't care that its installation had necessitated the removal of the Shift system that Raymond had decided to install, rendering his IS unable to evolve on its own.

He didn't care if the armaments that were currently being built for his IS were more suited to a second-gen MPIS than a third-gen TIS, because this device would make his initial lack of firepower irrelevant.

Said device took the form of a small attachment to the right side of the pilot's helmet. It was an incredibly advanced suite of sensors, designed and built by Orimura Ichika himself. Its purpose was simple- To analyze and record the blueprint of his opponent's weapons and equipment. This was, by itself, little more than an extremely efficient way of gathering information on his opponent, but it was the invisible second half of the device that made it so formidable in Ichika's opinion.

When an IS was in its stored form, the majority of the device was placed in a parallel pocket dimension managed by the unit's AI. This dimension was unique for every IS unit, being shaped by the will and desires of the unit's AI. In Ori's case, she had created an endless grassy plain, stretching out in all directions as far as the eye could see and covered in continuously blooming flowers. While Ichika could not enter it himself, he saw the images that Ori had shown him of the meadow, and he felt a small amount of regret about what he had done immediately afterward. He had designed and helped build a fabrication suite designed exclusively for IS gear, and promptly used the IS storage system to shift it into the parallel dimension. This fabricator gave Ori the ability to build any blueprint that Ichika sent her, as well as design and build any variants on said blueprints that they could come up with. This system was the true reason behind the name of the new IS. Ichika had effectively created an IS that could not only copy the weapons and equipment of its opponents, but given time it could also create its own variations of said weapons. Truly the best early birthday present he had ever received, and he had built it himself.

Ichika stepped into his new IS, a smile growing on his face as his body was encased in the unit's pilot armor. First his arms and legs were encased in metal, then his torso. Finally the helmet came down over his head, while a breather mask covered his lower face. The final piece of the ensemble, a jet black tinted visor, snapped down over his head, lighting up with an interface that Ichika had personally designed and helped program. A green light in the corner of his vision indicated that the suit was now completely sealed. Ichika could go out into the cold vacuum of space, or wade through a cloud of toxic gas, and he would suffer no ill effects.

"I'm detecting no problems with the suit Ichika! It's ready for launch." Ori's voice filled his head.

"Good." Ichika smiled before opening a channel to the base's air traffic control station. The Organization's headquarters had been completed soon after Raymond had installed his prototype core as the base's new power source, and Ichika was now looking at the result.

A long shaft led straight to the surface, easily large enough for three IS suits to fly side by side towards the exit. Ichika would only have one companion on this flight though, and she was using another IS launch shaft.

"Come in Control. This is IS pilot trainee Orimura, requesting permission to launch from IS shaft three." Ichika spoke over the radio.

"Permission granted trainee Orimura, you are cleared for launch." At that reply, the IS shot into the air, easily going three times as fast as his old Kestrel trainer could hope to move.

The doors at the top of the shaft opened, and Ichika rocketed into the air, watching as the door below him closed. Keeping an eye on his altimeter, he was nearly two kilometers up by the time he saw a second door open and a Raphael Revive emerged, ascending much slower than his own IS.

Yukari had been finally brought into the loop regarding Raymond's discoveries once the White-pattern IS core was created. Her IS control system was promptly purged, and a 'Dumb' AI of the Organization's make was installed in its stead, thus allowing the IS pilot to fly without fear of activating any failsafe measures present in the IS control system.

All the other IS pilots had been briefed on the situation as well, and all the IS units in the organization's possession were soon using Organization AIs as well. The only exception was the Phantom Task TIS, which was no longer in the Organization's possession. As per an agreement with the Japanese government, the Japanese would provide funding for the first five years of the Organization's existence, during which the Organization would build its bases around the world and find its own sources of funding. However, once the five years were over, the Organization would need to return the Japanese government's investment, and the debt was repaid with the two IS cores, as well as a selection of Organization-built technology and the Phantom Task IS. The White-pattern IS core remained secret, as did Ori's existence.

Finally, the Japanese government would, upon receiving its payment, wipe any and all traces of its involvement with the Organization from existence. As most transactions were done online, Organization hackers quickly erased whatever the Japanese government had 'missed', while several spies erased any physical evidence from the records. The Organization was now completely independent from any world government, and had begun to perform its operations in earnest. Ichika's current duty was to fly a routine patrol around Urup island, with Yukari as his wingman.

Parking his IS four kilometers above the ground, Ichika waited for Yukari to catch up.

"You've built a good IS unit Ichika-kun, that's for sure!" Yukari said as she finally caught up with him. "That thing easily outclimbs the old Phantom!" The woman was referring to the terrorist IS that she had test-flown in an evaluation of its capabilities.

"You got that right!" Ichika replied, grinning beneath his helmet. "This thing's a third gen, way better than that second gen pile of junk!" As if to prove his point, Ichika performed an evasive roll.

"I can see why you'd think that Ichika! Now, let's get on with the mission." Yukari laughed, before accelerating away, Ichika following.

The patrol was completely routine. Nothing came up, and Ichika soon found himself descending back into the confines of the Organization base. As he landed, he was met by Raymond, the old scientist standing at the entrance to the IS bay.

"So, how did it go?"

"Amazing! It's performing even better than I had hoped!" Ichika exclaimed.

"Well, it is a third generation IS! Now, regarding the unit's equipment, the Free Electron Laser is already prepared for installation. We just had to perform a few tweaks to the one we took off the Kestrel a while back, and it's ready to go. The other ranged weapon you wanted though, the railgun could take some time to finish, but it'll be ready for installation in a few weeks. As for your melee weapons, they'll be ready in a few days as well. The energy daggers were pretty simple to build, after all. Same with the barrier shield. The shield drones could take a little longer though." The man reported.

"Well then, let's at least install the FEL." Ichika said as he stepped out of his IS, the unit being removed and taken to the maintenance bay.

"Good. We'll get it done shortly." Raymond paused, before continuing a few seconds later.

"Oh, and before I forget..." Raymond pulled out his datapad and fiddled with it for a few moments.

"I believe that your apprenticeship under me is over. Congratulations, Junior Researcher Orimura." The man extended his hand, and Ichika shook it, a smile on his face.

* * *

Ichika's fifteenth birthday saw him and Dan sitting on a couch together at Ichika's house, controllers in hand, while they played an old favorite of theirs, a game called Combat Stratos: IS Combat Simulator.

"Whoa Ichika! When did you get so good?" Dan asked, awestruck as Ichika practically singlehandedly annihilated another opposing team in the Golden Stratos Platinum League tournament. Each team was composed of five players, and hundreds of teams had signed up for this year's tournament. Ichika's own team was composed of himself and Dan Gotanda, as well as Dan's sister, who was playing from her own home. The other two players were random people that they had invited the day before. They had seemed like decent people, but they had greatly exaggerated their skills at the game, as Ichika soon found out.

Ichika personally found the game to be incredibly easy compared to the spars he had with Yukari and the many hours he had logged in the Organization's IS simulator, so he often ended up as the last man standing on his team, with the rest of his allies dying in the first few minutes.

However, thanks to his skills, Ichika had allowed his team of misfits and generally average players to claw their way to the Platinum League finals. Speaking of which, the final game began now.

The loading screen came up... and Ichika's heart froze as he beheld his opposition. While the majority of the players' stats were average, there was one that easily stood out.

Player Name- White_Rabbit-chan. Kill-Death Ratio- 1. Damage Ratio- 1. Matches Played: 1029133. Win Rate: 100%

"How?" Dan panicked, seeing the woman's quite frankly ridiculous stats. "How does someone play that many matches and not die once?"

The game loaded, and Ichika shot out of the starting point, followed by Dan and Ran's matching red IS units. The last two team members simply stayed still.

"I give up!" The message came up from one of them, while a similar message soon popped up from the other one as well.

"Well..." Ichika sighed, before turning to Dan.

"Dan, stick with your sister and hunt down the regular players. I'll deal with Rabbit." The red haired boy nodded, and zoomed off, taking up a position above his sister and starting the hunt, while Ichika shot off in a different direction. The first player he met didn't know what hit him, as Ichika came in from behind, placing four railgun shots into his opponent before he even knew he was under attack. Two sword strikes later, the enemy was eliminated. Ichika wondered if that was what he looked like to Yukari when he first started training.

As he considered this, he absentmindedly rolled out of the way of a diving opponent, the hostile IS using two single handed swords. Ichika watched the IS slam into the ground before firing a finishing burst at his recovering opponent. Two down, three to go.

Another message popped up, showing that Ran had scored a kill. Moments later, Dan was eliminated by Rabbit's only remaining teammate. Said teammate was then eliminated by Ran, and then the wait began.

"Fly to me Ran. We'll form up together and search." Ichika spoke into his microphone. Soon, Ran's crimson IS came into view, and was promptly intercepted by a white blur, her elimination being signaled several seconds later.

Then, the white blur came for him, and Ichika barely managed to roll out of the way, striking with his sword as he did so. His strike failed to connect, but it caused the enemy to dodge as well, coming to a halt a short distance away. In its hand the IS clutched a long spear, its head somewhat resembling a carrot. At the other end of the spear, Ichika could see a booster array, explaining the IS unit's immense speed. The unit as a whole bore a passing resemblance to the White Knight IS, but a pair of rabbit ears sticking out of the top of the pilot's helmet ruined the impression.

"Is that you Ikkun?" The message suddenly came up, causing Ichika's eyes to widen.

"Are you Houki's older sister?" Ichika wrote back. He really didn't want to accidentally alert anyone to the enemy player's true identity, after all.

"Of course Ikkun! Now, I'll go easy on you, but don't expect an easy fight :)!" Doctor Shinonono Tabane wrote back. The resulting battle was short but furious, and it was scarcely two minutes later that Ichika stood over Tabane's defeated avatar.

"GG Ikkun! See ya soon ;)" The message came up. Then, the match ended. Ichika was now the proud owner of several rare ingame cosmetic items, as well as ten thousand Yen richer.

"Wait, who was she?" Dan asked. That question was punctuated by a loud 'THUMP' as something big impacted the ground outside.

Like a siren growing steadily closer, a high pitched squealing sound gradually increased in volume before Ichika suddenly found his face pressed into a pink haired woman's chest.

"Ta Dah! Everyone's favorite super-genius, Doctor Shinonono Tabane, is here!" The woman declared, causing Dan's jaw to drop.

"Y-you're the inventor of the IS?" The red haired boy stuttered out. He was ignored as the woman in question made a show of studying Ichika.

"My my Ikkun, how you've grown!" The hyperactive doctor exclaimed, "Last time I saw you, you were a cute little boy, and now look at you! fifteen years old and already a Class Four IS engineer!"

"Wait, Ichika, you made class four?" Dan asked, awestruck. A Class Four IS engineer was considered to be one of the best IS engineers in the world. Aside from Ichika, there were only seventy two other men and women in the world who had the same degree of IS expertise.

"Yeah, I forgot to mention it..." Ichika said sheepishly before realizing something.

"Oh, Tabane-san! I forgot to introduce you to my friend here! This is Gotanda Dan. Tabane, Dan. Dan, Tabane." Ichika stated.

"Yes, yes. Any friend of Ichika is a friend of mine." The doctor replied offhandedly, not even looking at the boy she had just been introduced to.

"So, what brings you here?" Ichika asked the hyperactive doctor.

"What, can I not just drop by to congratulate my bestest friend's little brother on his fourteenth birthday? Oh, speaking of which..." A present appeared in the doctor's hands.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY IKKUN!" The doctor exclaimed before pulling on the ribbon holding the present together. At that, streamers filled the room, while party hats appeared on Ichika and Tabane's heads. A large cake was now floating in the center of the room as well.

The doctor then opened the present completely, revealing a small, cellphone like device.

"Introducing the Super Genius' Super IS Guide!" The doctor said, pulling out the device and handing it to Ichika.

"Though it may not look particularly awesome, this device contains data on every single IS ever made! Past, present, and future!"

"Wait, this contains data on future IS units?" Ichika asked, alarmed.

"Not right now silly, but whenever a new IS is made, its data will be added! Technical specifications, armaments, and even the name of the people who fly it!"

"Wait, this gives me the blueprint on every single IS in existence?" Ichika asked. Such a device would make the Infinite Armory ludicrously strong.

"Of course not, silly! I can't do that, it would violate the Alaska Treaty clause on IS related espionage!" Tabane smiled as Ichika activated the device and looked at the information available. 'And this doesn't?' The fifteen year old thought as he saw exactly how detailed the data was.

"The Mass Production units aren't here..." Ichika said after a few seconds of using the device.

"Of course they aren't! They're not true IS units, just a pale imitation!"

"I assume you're getting this data from the IS cores then?" Ichika said, looking over the displayed IS units. He spotted some familiar designs, like his sister's Karezukara, as well as the original Raphael first-generation TIS, but he also noticed one particular IS missing from the list. The spider-like IS from Pearl Harbor was nowhere to be found, for one, and Ichika soon discovered that several IS cores that the Organization had classified as active had no IS present under their name. He also noted that the Infinite Arsenal was missing as well.

"Tabane-san, some of the core numbers are missing." Ichika said hesitantly.

"Of course some aren't there! Not all the cores have been used in IS suits, after all! Why, I hear that the Americans are using one as a power plant! How silly is that? Anyway, I have to go now Ichika! Wouldn't want to take up too much of your time on this special day, after all!" At that, the doctor ran out of the room just as fast as she had entered. A distant roar indicated her transport taking off.

Ichika turned to Dan, seeing that the redhead was still in shock from being introduced to the infamous Doctor Tabane.

"She has quite the personality, don't you think?" Ichika asked. Dan just nodded.

* * *

The following year was somewhat subdued compared to the past few. His fifteenth year was mostly spent either training under Stukanov or Yukari, or simply practicing in the use of his IS. The Infinite Arsenal's signature tool hadn't seen much use however, as the only weapons available at the base were largely designed for MPIS units or more conventional craft, such as the new OXF-1 fighter craft, which had begun to replace the fleet of modified F-3s in service as the Organization's main fighter wing.

Five more White-pattern IS cores had been produced, along with companion AIs, and each core had been assigned to the Organization's other pilots at base. Ichika soon discovered that IS units powered by the new cores could and would accept male pilots, but the only trained pilots on base at the time were women, and so the Organization's IS corps remained predominantly female. After all, gender diversity was less important than combat performance, and the Organization was only just starting to train its next batch of pilots, this one being recruited before the core entered mass production and was thus all female as well.

Ichika's main job with regards to the R&D department was to assist in the fabrication of the OXF-1 fighter, as well as help design the vehicle's weapon systems. There were several other projects he worked on, but those were far more long term, and thus wouldn't be produced for a while longer.

Thus passed most of Ichika's year, and it was late in July that the plans laid several years in advance began to be set in motion.

"You know your orders, right?" The voice of Jason Weiss crackled in his ear, courtesy of the communications device he was wearing.

"I am to pretend to get lost while looking for my exam room, stumble into the IS room, and then activate the Uchigane trainer contained within." Ichika replied.

"Good. Your first long-term mission as a member of the Organization begins now. Your objective is to survive IS academy, double-oh seven." Even over the comms channel Ichika could feel the man's smile at the nickname.

"Come on, stop with that nickname already!" Ichika complained as he sat in the back of the car driven by Giorgi Stukanov.

"Well, you are about to be the ONLY male in a school full of hormonal teenage girls, so I am sure you will soon earn the name!" Jason laughed while Ichika groaned.

"Don't remind me." The fifteen year old sighed.

"We're here." The voice of his physical trainer brought Ichika's focus back to the present.

"You know what to do, Agent Orimura. Jason out."

That final message was the last thing Ichika heard before he stepped out of the car and prepared himself to enter IS academy.

* * *

 **A/N: I do hope that you all enjoyed this latest chapter of Agent Orimura, where things get done and the stage is set for the main act.**

 **Before anyone starts complaining about how Ichika's IS is 'OP LOL GG MARY SOO OP', let me remind you about the abilities of a few choice CANON IS units. First is, of course, Byakushiki. Its special ability, while it does drain power at a fairly fast rate, essentially turns every single one of his attacks into a guaranteed 1-hit kill should he land them. Plus the thing is equipped with the Ignition Boost, which, if used by a well trained pilot, practically guarantees that said 1-hit kill will be landed. All this information is taken directly from the IS wiki.**

 **Second is Akatsubaki. While this one does get a little leeway because of it being a 'Fourth generation' IS (although I find its performance to be somewhat underwhelming, though that could be chalked up to an inexperienced pilot), this IS still ridiculously powerful. Its Fold-Out armor makes it so that the suit can essentially cover itself with Yukihira Nigata blades, while its performance (speed, agility, etc.) is superior to all other IS units in every way, and that is in its factory default setting. Then, of course, there are its beam katanas, and finally its special ability. This Kenran Buto essentially flips the law of conservation of energy the middle finger and FUCKING CREATES ENERGY OUT OF NOTHING! THAT IS CANON! This essentially means that, once per battle, this IS can essentially recharge its shield completely, from nothing, as well as the shields of its allies.**

 **I would like to think that the Infinite Arsenal will fit right in among these two units. Plus, when you are designing a weapon in real life, are you not trying to make it as overpowered as possible? Thus I rest my case. Hopefully, you will see Ichika's new IS in action next chapter.**

 **Until then, see ya!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Any resemblance between Infinite Arsenal's special ability and Fate/Stay Night's Unlimited Blade Works is purely the result of coincidence. I only realized how similar the two abilities were after posting the previous chapter.**

 **Chapter 4**

Ichika had to admit, this academy was built like a labyrinth. He was sure that even without the Organization's help, he would have easily been able to find the IS room long before he could locate the room he was 'supposed' to get to.

"Now, if I were an IS, where would I be located?" Ichika muttered to himself as he walked down the hallway where the IS examination room was located. His question was answered by a girl with dark magenta hair and eyes walking out of a door on his right. Another girl, this one with pink hair and sleepy yellow eyes followed her out.

"Man that IS exam was hard! I barely lasted a minute against that instructor!" The magenta haired girl exclaimed.

"Mhm! At least you managed to land a hit though..." The other girl yawned.

"You lasted longer than me though, so I would say we're equal!" Magenta hair replied as the two girls walked past Ichika.

"Oh? Are you lost?" The sleepy looking girl turned to Ichika.

"Yes, I'm looking for the IS examination room." Ichika replied.

"Really? But you're a boy! You can't pilot an IS!" The magenta haired girl said, although her tone was still friendly.

"Oh I know that. You may not be able to tell by looking at me, but I've been studying IS suits since I was ten, and already have a Class Four ISDL." Ichika replied.

"Wait... Are you Orimura Ichika-san?" The sleepy girl asked.

"I am. Why do you want to know?" Ichika asked.

"Wait, you're Orimura Chifuyu's younger brother? The youngest person to ever obtain a Class Four ISDL?" Magenta Hair exclaimed.

"Correct." Ichika replied.

"Wow..." The sleepy girl sighed.

"Anyway, you were looking for the IS examination room? It's right back there, in the gymnasium." The magenta haired girl pointed towards the door they had just come out of.

"Thank you..."

"Aikawa Kiyoka. That's my name, and this is Nohotoke Honne." The girl introduced herself and her friend.

"Thank you then, Aikawa-san, Nohotoke-san." Ichika thanked the two girls in turn before turning and heading into the examination room.

"You there, tall with blue hair, suit up and get in the air. There are twenty more girls coming after you, so don't waste my time!" The hassled looking instructor barely glanced at Ichika before looking back down at her computer screen.

"But-" Ichika began, intending to play the part of confused student.

"No buts, just get in the IS!" The woman shouted, and Ichika obeyed, walking up to the Uchigane and stepping inside. Immediately, the training IS booted up and Ichika turned away, only to pause.

"What do I do now?" Ichika asked.

"Go out through the gym exit, an Instructor will be waiting there to evaluate you." At that, Ichika nodded before his IS rose a few feet off the ground and flew towards the exit. He emerged into a makeshift arena that had been set up behind the school.

"Alright, are you ready?" The instructor called out as he hovered in front of her. A quick glance at her IS told Ichika that the woman's Uchigane was armed with a training sword and pistol. An identical loadout to his own.

"I am." Ichika replied.

"Then here I come!" Ichika's pistol was already raised by the time the instructor started her charge. He managed to get off three shots, landing one, by the time the woman reached him.

"Oh? You're quite good for a newbie." The woman commented as Ichika flipped his IS over her head and slashed down from his inverted position at the top of the arc, aiming for his opponent's back. The woman barely managed to twist and parry the blow.

The instructor raised her pistol as she spoke and fired twice, the first shot hitting, while the second flying over Ichika's head as he rolled out of the woman's line of fire, his pistol firing once as he did so.

His sword met his opponent's weapon once again a second later. The two were now face to face.

"So, what's your name little girl? You've lasted the longest out of all the students I've tested so far, and you even managed to land a few hits on me! Are you sure you're new to IS piloting?" The woman asked, her sword locked against his.

"W-well, my name is Orimura Ichika and... I'm not a girl." Ichika replied, causing the woman's eyes to widen. She looked down at his body, then up at him again. Her guard was weakened, but Ichika was sure that he didn't need to attack at the moment.

"Are... Are you related to That Orimura?" The instructor asked softly.

"Who, Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika asked. At that, the instructor's eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the ground in a dead faint.

"And the winner is... Orimura Ichika-kun?" The announcer exclaimed incredulously. "But... but that's impossible! Boys can't..." Whatever the announcer was going to say was soon reduced to incoherent mumbling while Ichika flew back into the IS examination room, landing neatly on the charging pad.

"Why didn't you tell me you were a boy?" The woman from earlier spoke. Behind her, several young girls sat, watching with wide eyes.

"Well... I tried, but you wouldn't listen and-" Ichika began, but the woman walked up to him and poked him in the chest a few times.

"Looks like you really are a boy..." The woman blushed after doing so,

"What do I do now?" Ichika asked.

"W-well, for now just get out of the IS and wait here." The woman said and Ichika stepped out. She then walked towards a nearby phone and dialed a number. That was the cue for the rest of the girls in the room to start talking all at once.

"Are you really a boy?"

"How did you pilot that IS?"

"What is your name?"

"How did you do on the test?" The barrage of questions caused Ichika to clap his hands over his ears, which in turn slowly reduced the number and volume of questions.

"Alright, so my name is Orimura Ichika. I am a boy, at least I was when last I checked, and I don't know how I piloted the IS. I do know, however, that I managed to beat the instructor, although it was more like she fainted once she found out I was a boy..." Ichika trailed off at that.

"Orimura... Are you related to Orimura Chifuyu-sama by any chance?" One of the girls spoke hesitantly.

"Chifuyu-nee? Of course I am related to my older sister!" Ichika exclaimed, and instantly regretted it, as the girls squealed as one and began pestering him again, this time for autographs.

"Alright, settle down everyone! The instructor's awake again, so whoever's next please suit up and get out there!" At that, one of the quieter girls, one with blue hair and red eyes behind her glasses, walked up to the training IS and soared out of the room. Ichika dimly heard the sounds of combat coming from outside as he sat down on one of the benches present.

"Orimura-kun? There are some people here who wish to speak with you." The woman, whom Ichika realized was also the announcer for the training matches, called to him a minute later.

"Where should I go?" Ichika asked.

"Once you exit this room, turn right, and then enter room 512. It should be the third one on your right." The woman spoke, and Ichika thanked her. As he walked out of the room, he saw the blue haired girl walk back into the room, a dejected look on her face.

Ichika entered the assigned room, and saw three men sitting within. He recognized Raymond White among them.

"Hello again, Ichika. It's good to see that you completed your objective." Raymond spoke first.

"Wait, you knew of this, White-san?" One of the other two men in the room asked.

"Of course. We found out about his piloting abilities three weeks ago during what would have been a routine activation test. He leaned against the unit and next thing we knew he was in the pilot's seat." Raymond spoke.

"Then why were we not informed?" One of the men, a black haired man wearing dark glasses, asked.

"You are informed now." Raymond replied, a faint smile on his face.

"Listen, just because your Organization is now independent of the Japanese Government doesn't mean that you can simply leave us out of the loop when it comes to things of such importance!" The other man, this one brown haired and also wearing similar glasses, exclaimed.

"Actually, we can do just that. We are, after all, not based on Japan's soil." Raymond replied.

"But your primary purpose is to protect Japan from all known terrorist activities!"

"A purpose that extends to the rest of the world as well, and had Ichika been revealed earlier, he would have been a target. After all, we all know that there are many people out there who might want to... acquire Ichika here for their own purposes, and some of those purposes would involve him strapped down on a vivisection table. I am sure you understand, right?" Raymond lectured.

"Fine. However, you do know that he will now be required to attend IS academy, right?" The black haired man spoke.

"Of course. I was counting on it, in fact."

"And why is that?"

"Well, for starters we have deemed that the IS academy is one of Phantom Task's biggest targets. After all, should they capture IS academy, they also capture hundreds of MPIS units within, as well as multiple True IS units. The area is also somewhat poorly guarded, with the majority of pilots present being teenage girls."

"But the rest of the instructors there are highly trained professionals!"

"There are two instructors there I can think of that might be able to fight effectively against an incoming attack. The rest are out of practice, and haven't shot anything other than a training gun in years. Phantom Task will make mincemeat out of them."

"The JSDF will still be able to respond within the hour!"

"Keyword- Respond. By the time that hour is over, the academy could have already fallen."

"And what could one boy do to prevent the academy from falling if the entire JSDF can do nothing?"

"Simple- Ichika here is already in possession of his own personal IS unit, and has undergone enough training to easily put him on par with an IS Representative Candidate. Besides, he is going there anyway, so why are you objecting?" Raymond smiled.

"We are not voicing our objections, we are simply stating our concerns with you placing an agent into the IS academy."

"But the IS academy is not part of the Japanese nation, so it is not your concern in the first place."

"Japan is still tasked with the maintenance and upkeep of the academy, as well as the protection of its students, as per the Alaska Treaty."

"Once again, are you objecting to Ichika attending IS academy?"

"Of course not! Ichika is attending regardless of our concerns. However, we are simply passing on a warning." The black haired man spoke.

"And that warning is?" Raymond asked, his voice now carrying an edge.

"That we know where your base is located, and should you attempt anything at the IS academy we will be paying you a visit."

"Rest assured that we are not attempting anything. Wouldn't you agree, Ichika?"

"Of course! My only goal at the academy is to assist in its defense should Phantom Task decide to launch an attack." Ichika spoke.

"Very well. We will, however, be watching Ichika very closely over the next three years. I hope you understand, Dr. White." The black haired man stood, and left the room.

"Now, Agent Orimura, was it? It is good to finally be able to speak with you." The brown haired man said after a few moments.

"And your name is?" Ichika asked.

"Gendou. Gendou Aikawa. I will be your observer during your stay at IS academy. I am also in the employ of the Organization's Intelligence Division, and thus you will be allowed a bit more freedom than some would wish."

"Wait, Aikawa? I met a girl with that name on my way to the Examination room!" Ichika exclaimed.

"Ah, so you've met my daughter already? That's good to hear. I hope she made a favorable impression on you."

"She seemed nice."

"Good. Now, she doesn't know about our little secret, so try not to bring her in unless it is absolutely necessary. You are to also refrain from alerting her of my status as your observer."

"But what about other observers? I am sure there will be more than just you." Ichika said, getting back on track.

"Legally, Japan is forbidden from sending anyone in addition to me, although I do not doubt that they will attempt to keep tabs on you through less scrupulous means. However, as the IS academy is technically independent from Japan as a whole, they will not be allowed to do much without inviting reprisal from other nations."

"Then it is good to meet you, Gendou-san." Ichika spoke.

"Likewise." Gendou replied, extending his hand for Ichika to shake. Ichika shook it, reminding himself to check for bugs later. It was a common practice among Intelligence officers to slip bugs onto random Organization members as a method of 'keeping security on its toes'.

"Then it is settled. You will be reporting to IS academy once term starts in August. I hope that you are ready..." The man trailed off.

"I am already fully trained in the operation of the IS." Ichika replied.

"Ha! Of course you are! No, I mean... Are you ready to be thrown into a pit of hormonal teenage girls?" The man said, his tone light.

"Not you too!" Ichika complained.

"I only speak the truth... double-oh seven." The man laughed.

"Not that nickname again..."

"Alright, settle down you two. Ichika, you may leave now." With those words, Ichika was dismissed. He soon was heading out of the school's labyrinthine passageways.

A few minutes later, he turned another corner, about to reach the exit, only to stop cold in his tracks. There, standing between him and the exit, was his older sister.

"You've been holding out on me, Ichika-kun." The black haired woman stated simply.

"Um..."

"So how long did you know? Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret between the two of us." Chifuyu said as she walked towards him.

"Well..." Ichika was torn. On one hand, maintaining secrecy was paramount, but on the other hand, it was his sister asking! The same sister who had essentially raised him!

"Well?" Chufuyu asked, now standing right in front of him.

"I can't tell you..." Ichika's face fell, guilt clearly written all over his features.

"Don't worry Ichika..." His sister said, wrapping her arms around him. "We all have our secrets, after all."

"Really? Even you?" Ichika asked.

"Of course..." Chifuyu trailed off. If Ichika could see his face at the moment, he would have noticed that it practically mirrored his sister's own visage. A quiet gasp ruined the mood.

"Look! He really is her brother!"

"How adorable!"

A pair of voices caused the pair to break apart.

"Whoever is there, come out now!" Chifuyu declared.

"Oh no! She heard us!" One of the eavesdroppers whispered, and rather loudly too.

"Ichika, you may leave now. It seems that I have to teach a lesson to some of your future classmates." At that, Chifuyu turned and, after quickly running her hand through Ichika's hair, began to walk to where a pair of prospective IS pilots were likely quaking in fear. Ichika sighed in relief and walked out of the building.

* * *

The next few weeks passed by quickly, and Ichika soon found himself riding the monorail to the artificial island that housed the IS academy. His first sight of the academy nearly took his breath away. While it lacked the sheer grandeur of the Organization's HQ, the academy appeared, at least from a distance, as an image of the future. Tall, twisting spires and low domes illuminated by the rising sun, interspersed with trees and the faint glimmer of holograms only added to this impression.

Ichika's eyes soon drifted down to the watch that adorned his hand. It was a simple grey and black device, and wasn't much to look at, but Ichika knew its every secret. After all, it was the Infinite Arsenal in stored form.

'What are you thinking about?' The text showed up on his watch face.

"Nothing much, Ori." Ichika replied, his tone low so that he wouldn't be overheard.

'Don't worry Ichika, I'm sure you'll do fine.' The AI responded. While the watch could act as a full blown holoprojector and allow him to talk to Ori face to face, he really wasn't feeling like dodging questions before he even arrived at the academy.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Ichika replied.

'Then is it related to why people keep calling you double-oh seven?'

"No, it isn't." Ichika sighed.

'Then what is it?'

"It's just that this is my first assignment. What if something happens and my cover, and that of the Organization as a whole is blown?"

'Don't think like that and it won't happen, Ichika.'

"Thank's Ori." As Ichika spoke those words, the monorail arrived at its destination. Ichika stepped off the train and looked around. There were a few familiar faces in the crowd of students walking towards the academy. He spotted Honne Nohotoke talking with two other girls in the shade of the building, while a certain glasses wearing blue haired girl was talking to what at first appeared to be an older version of herself, sans glasses. As Ichika walked past the pair, however, he noticed that while their appearances were almost identical, their personalities seemed wildly different, as the older girl was gesturing wildly and speaking excitedly, while her younger sister, or at least Ichika thought she was her sister, simply listened with a slight frown upon her face. Then, Ichika's eyes met dark blue ones that widened in shock.

"Houki? Is that you?" Ichika called out to the ponytailed girl that now stood staring at him. The girl in question simply stared for a few more minutes before turning away and hurrying towards the building's entrance.

Ichika hurried after her, but by the time he had reached the building's entrance the girl was long gone.

"Great... Now where am I supposed to go?" Ichika wondered aloud as he entered the building.

'You are in Class 1-1.' Ori messaged him over his watch, and Ichika muttered his thanks to the AI before he began to wonder where exactly the classroom was located.

Ori's response was to promptly call up a holographic map of the facility, highlighting the classroom as a red dot, while Ichika's position was indicated by a small arrow. This caused a few passing students to stare.

"What's that?" A familiar sounding asked as Ichika shut off the map.

"Aikawa-san?" Ichika asked, turning to the magenta haired girl.

"You remembered my name!" The girl leaped into the air, seemingly ecstatic, before asking again.

"So, Ichika-san, what is that?" The girl asked, looking at his watch.

"You'll see soon enough." Ichika replied, causing the girl to pout.

"But I want to find out now!" She complained.

"I'm afraid that its existence is still technically a corporate secret, so I can't tell you." Ichika replied as he walked to his classroom.

"Aww..." The girl pouted for a while before cheering up again.

"Hey, you're in the same homeroom as me!" Kiyoka exclaimed as Ichika entered room 1-1.

"Looks like it." Ichika replied, spotting a desk with his name displayed above it in holographic letters. He sat down in it, and looked around the room. There were several other students present already, as Ichika spotted a blonde haired girl sitting in the back of the room. She looked somewhat familiar, but Ichika couldn't remember from where. Kiyoka had also taken a seat at her assigned desk, while the final occupant of the room was... Shinonono Houki. The brown haired girl studiously ignored Ichika from her seat by the window, choosing instead to stare out across the academy grounds.

Having nothing better to do, Ichika pulled out his datapad, which he had brought with him, and turned the instrument on. Entering his password, he pulled up an electronic copy of the IS academy textbook and began to quickly skim through it, not really paying attention to the content, most of which he had already memorized.

"A-ahem..." A timid sounding voice caused him to look up and see a green haired woman standing above him, holding a small packet of paper.

"Yes?" Ichika asked, causing the woman to practically jump in shock.

"W-well, I just wanted to give these to you, as you know... well, I don't think you got these along with the rest of the students so..." The nervous woman trailed off, staring into space for a few seconds before quickly depositing the papers on Ichika's desk and walking away. Ichika quickly looked over the papers and soon saw that the teacher had handed the IS Academy Student Handbook to him, which he had already read. Then, Ichika's eyes landed on a thin strip of what looked like a random series of numbers and letters on the bottom of the booklet. To an ordinary observer, it would have simply looked like something fairly normal, some indecipherable number for a machine's convenience, but Ichika looked at it and saw one of several written codes used by the Organization in the field. The message was simple.

'My name is Yamada Maya. I will be your contact in the IS academy. See me after class.' Ichika looked up at the woman, catching her eye and causing her to nod before turning to whatever she had been doing before. Ichika did the same, returning his attention to his tablet. He noticed more students slowly trickle in until finally, the room was full.

"Congratulations to everyone for entering this school." Maya spoke up after a few minutes, addressing the class. "I am the vice-homeroom teacher, Yamada Maya."

The class was silent. After a short but awkward silence, the teacher spoke again, this time a lot more nervously.

"Ah... From this day onwards, everyone here is a student of IS academy. This is a boarding school, meaning that everyone will be together, even once classes are over. Please help each other, and enjoy the next three years you all spend together." The class remained silent.

"Well... Let's move on to the self-introductions! We will go according to numerical order on the attendance list." The green haired teacher then began calling names.

Ichika noticed Houki staring at him out of the corner of his eye, and turned to look at her. However, that action only caused the long haired girl to pointedly look away from him again.

"Orimura-kun? Orimura Ichika-kun?" Ichika heard the teacher call out several times. Apparently, it was time to introduce himself.

"Ah, my apologies, Yamada-sensei, I wasn't paying attention." Ichika spoke, placating the somewhat nervous looking teacher. He then cleared his throat and spoke again, this time to the rest of the class.

"My name is Orimura Ichika." He began, standing up. "It is a pleasure to meet you all, and I look forward to my next three years in this academy." Ichika spoke. A few seconds passed, the entire class staring up at him, as if expecting him to say more.

"That's all." Ichika replied, much to the disappointment of much of the other students. That was when he felt the first impact to the top of his head.

"Ow! What was that for Chifuyu-nee?" For that was indeed the identity of the woman whose fist had impacted his head.

'WHAM!'

"While you are in class you will refer to me as Orimura-sensei."

"Sensei, has the meeting ended?" Maya piped up from the front of the room.

"It has, Yamada-kun. I must apologize for making you greet the new students." Chifuyu replied, walking up to the front of the room.

"Attention! I am your homeroom teacher, Orimura Chifuyu. Over the course of this year I will be the one training you in the usage of the IS." At that, almost every female student in the room squealed excitedly.

"Chifuyu-sama! It's the real Chifuyu-sama!"

"I came to this school from Kitakyuushuu because I admired you Onee-sama!"

"I would die for you Chifuyu-sama!"

Ichika's head now rested flat on his desk, while his hands kept the worst of the fangirls' screams from damaging his hearing. Chifuyu sighed.

"Once again I see that my class is full of idiots. Are they really here to use an IS or just to see me?" The woman commented aloud.

"Onee-sama! Please scold me and abuse me more!" Alright, Ichika thought, now it's just getting ridiculous.

"But be nice at times too!"

Over the cries of the fangirls, Ichika saw his sister turn towards him.

"So, you fail to even greet the class properly..." Chifuyu began.

"Well, I don't like to brag about my achievements, Chifuyu-nee." Another impact against his head.

"It's Orimura-sensei in here, get it right."

"Understood, Orimura-sensei." Ichika replied.

"Wait, Orimura Ichika is Chifuyu-sensei's younger brother? Does that have anything to do with his ability to use the IS?" One of the girls next to him whispered to her friend behind her. At that Ichika laughed inwardly. After all, if he were to toss the Infinite Arsenal to some random man out on the street, that man would have a coin flip chance of at least being able to activate it.

"Everyone be quiet!" At Chifuyu's behest, the entire class was silent. "Over the next six months each and every one of you will have memorized the basics of the IS. After that you will start hands-on lessons. You will learn basic maneuvers within half a month. Understood? If you agree, answer me. If you don't, then still answer me."

"Yes!" The entire class chorused, Ichika included. That was when Maya began to teach.

"As all of you are already aware, the proper name of the IS is Infinite Stratos. It is a multi-purpose suit developed in Japan. When the design was initially conceived, it was intended for space travel, but development in that field has been halted due to the Alaska Treaty. The Alaska Treaty also prohibits the IS from being used by the military... Yes Orimura-kun?" Ichika had raised his hand moments before.

"But aren't most of the world's IS programs considered a branch of various nations' militaries?" Ichika asked. He already knew the answer, but he had been asked to stay after class. He hoped the teacher would pick up on the hint.

"You bring up a good point, Orimura-kun. It is true that the IS is still largely a military endeavor, but the Alaska Treaty prohibits any true IS suit from being used by any nation's military, save for defensive purposes. However, I can see that you still have several questions about this topic. Please stay after class so that we may discuss this in more detail." With that answer, Maya continued with her lesson.

A few hours later the bell rang, and all the room's occupants exited leaving Maya and Ichika alone inside.

"Good to see you taking the initiative, Orimura-kun. Now, as you have discerned from my message, I will be your contact here in IS academy. Any orders from above will be relayed to you through me via a manner similar to how I alerted you of my status. Any questions?" Maya asked.

"Yes. What about my observer, Gendou Aikawa?" Ichika asked.

"The Japanese government views him with a small amount of suspicion, and he is thus prohibited from interacting with you while you are enrolled in IS academy. Of course, I have been teaching here for several years now, and have thus slipped under the radar, so to speak." Maya replied.

"I see. Are you a member of the Organization's IS corps by any chance?" Ichika asked.

"Of course I am, although my job here means that I spend most of my time away from the base. I was considered for the position of your IS trainer, but the people up in Intelligence deemed me too valuable in my current position, and thus Yukari was given the job. From what I've heard, she has done quite a good job training you." Maya replied.

"I know, Yukari-sensei occasionally brought you up during our spars. She said something about you being chosen as Japan's IS representative over her." Ichika said.

"That is correct. Now, do you have any questions regarding our arrangement?"

"No ma'am." Ichika replied. Hearing that Maya laughed and handed him a small flash drive.

"Good. Here, take this. It contains dossiers on various persons of interest at this academy, both student and teacher. There are likely a few names you recognize contained within." Maya spoke as she handed the device to Ichika.

"Thanks. I will make good use of it." Ichika replied.

"I am glad to hear that. You are dismissed." At that, Ichika walked out of the room. As he left, he noticed Houki leaning against the wall opposite the classroom door. As Ichika left, she walked towards him.

"May I have a moment of your time?" The girl asked.

"Of course!" Ichika replied, and allowed the girl to lead him to the Academy roof.

"So what do you want?" Ichika asked one the pair had reached their destination.

"Um... Well..." Houki began, leaning against the railing while Ichika paced behind her.

"It's been six years since we've last seen each other. Surely you have something to say, Houki?" Ichika began, attempting to start a conversation. However, Houki simply looked out across the Academy grounds, a slight blush on her face.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Congratulations on winning the national Kendo championship!" Ichika said.

"How did you know that?" Houki turned to Ichika, a shocked expression on her face.

"I saw it in the newspaper, how else would I know?" Ichika replied.

"Why do you even read the newspaper?" Houki's complaint had some merit, as newspapers were now almost completely replaced by electronic channels of information.

"Well, they're much more easier to understand..." That and Stukanov's trick with the newspaper was a good way of determining if anyone was home or not.

"I see..." Houki spoke.

"You know, even though it's been six years, I recognized you as soon as I saw you." Ichika commented.

"Wha..." The blush on the girl's face intensified.

"Your hairstyle is exactly the same, you know."

"Y-you do have a good memory..." Houki turned away, idly twisting a few strands of hair around with her finger.

"Well, what kind of friend would I be if I forgot?" Ichika smiled.

Houki gave no reply though, and simply stared out into space, causing Ichika to pause. Then, the bell rang, signalling that it was time to return to class.

"Come on, we've got to get to class." Ichika said, turning away.

"I understand..." Houki replied, although her mind was clearly somewhere else.

The next class period was spent reviewing the basics of IS theory, something that Ichika already knew by heart. He would have likely slept through the class, but the imposing presence of Chifuyu in front of him kept him awake, if not attentive.

"Ichika!" The exclamation was punctuated with an attendance book to the head.

"Y-yes Orimura-sensei?" Ichika replied, startled.

"Just because you already know all of this does not mean that you are exempt from paying attention!" Chifuyu chastised.

"Understood, Orimura-sensei." Ichika replied simply.

Soon, the bell rang again, although this time around Ichika was too tired to leave his desk.

"Excuse me, but may I have a moment of your time?" An English accented voice brought him back to full wakefulness.

"Of course." Ichika replied in English.

"Ah, it is good to see that someone else here is capable of speaking English. Now, I am sure you already know my name, and I already know yours, so let us not bother with introductions." The blonde haired girl standing beside him spoke.

"You do look very familiar now that you mention it." Ichika replied.

"Hmph. You should be honored to be addressed by me, Cecilia Alcott. Couldn't you at least pretend to recognize me?" The girl asked, outraged.

"Alcott? That explains it, you must be Edmond's daughter then. My mentor took me to meet with him a few years ago, and he seemed like a good man. How is he anyway?" That was evidently the wrong thing to say, as an enraged expression crossed the girl's face.

"I guess that it is typical of a monkey like you to associate with my no good drunk of a father! Goodbye!" The girl stormed away, touching off a flurry of uneasy whispering among his classmates. While none of them seemed to understand what had been said, the things Ichika heard ranged from him simply insulting her to him shooting down her when she asked him out.

"So that was Cecilia Alcott..." Ichika murmured to himself. Honestly, he could see how the girl could dislike her father. After all, the man had been drinking quite a bit during his meeting with Raymond and Ichika, and if he behaved similarly at home...

Soon the bell rang again, and the final class period of the day began. Once again, Ichika barely paid attention to the discussion of IS tactics. Yukari had drilled it all into him already, after all. Instead, his mind was focused on a certain blonde haired girl that sat fuming in the back of the room. Ichika mentally went over what Edmond had requested during his meeting. Apparently Raymond had managed arrange for Cecilia to be trained to the point that she managed to surpass all other candidates her age and was made England's IS Representative Cadet at the IS academy. Her haughty attitude likely meant that her fortune was still intact, and... Ichika remembered Edmond's last request. Had Raymond given the recording to Cecilia? He resolved to ask the engineer at his earliest convenience. The Alcott name still held a large amount of weight in the world of the IS, and he would rather not piss off Cecilia now and regret it later.

The class period ended, and Ichika soon found himself walking alone towards the Dormitory complex, a mob of curious girls trying, and failing, at staying hidden while tailing him.

Soon he arrived at his assigned dorm room, room 1025, and knocked. There was no response, and Ichika entered the room. He groaned at the sight of the two beds in the room, a clear sign that he would be sharing with a female student. He only hoped that-

"Is someone there?" A familiar voice cut through Ichika's thoughts.

"You must be my roommate then. I'm sorry for appearing like this, but my name is Shinonono Houki." Ichika watched as Houki stepped out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel. The girl's eyes widened as they met Ichika's own.

"I-I-Ichika?" The girl stuttered out, before looking down at herself.

"Don't look!" At that Ichika was snapped out of his stupor and he quickly turned around.

"Why are you here?" His roommate exclaimed.

"What do you mean, 'Why am I here?' This is my assigned room!" Ichika replied, before continuing a few moments later.

"Well, at least it's just you and not a total stranger!" He exclaimed brightly. That was when Houki sprinted past him and grabbed a long, thin, and very familiar object from her bag. Ichika leaped out of the way of the girl's first strike, while a weapon materialized in his hand.

It wasn't much to look at, being a simple black telescoping baton that Ichika had used to test out the Infinite Arsenal's special ability. Through it he had learned that the baton, once copied and fabricated, was now considered a part of his IS and could then be partially deployed. That also applied to every other weapon he had analyzed, although most of them would be of limited use in this situation. Pretty much every ranged weapon in his current arsenal would be materialized without a supply of ammunition in a partial deployment, while all other melee weapons were simply too big, heavy, or impractical for use in the confines of the room. That and he didn't want to hurt Houki.

The baton extended, and with a resounding 'CRACK!' it met Houki's second strike. If his opponent showed any surprise at the weapon appearing out of nowhere in Ichika's hands, she did not show it, instead simply continuing her assault.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The sounds of their duel echoed through the room, and Ichika soon found himself on the defensive. While Ichika was strong from Giorgi's training and possessed some level of skill in close quarters combat, also courtesy of the ex-Spetsnaz, much of his training had been oriented towards making him a better IS pilot, while Houki's own skillset was perfectly suited towards the current situation. Ichika soon found himself being pushed back towards the room's entrance. His back soon hit the door, and Houki raised her weapon for a finishing blow. Ichika dodged to the right, causing his opponent's weapon to punch clean through the door. He wrapped his left arm around the momentarily stuck weapon, preventing Houki from using it, while his baton lightly rapped his opponent on the forehead.

"That was fun Houki, but I think you should get dressed before we continue." Ichika said, causing the previously enraged girl to look down at herself and blush.

"L-look away!" The girl screamed again.

"You're holding me against a wall with a weapon that can kill me, and you want me to look away?" Ichika deadpanned. Blushing, Houki pulled her weapon out of the door and leaned it against the wall.

"Don't you dare peek." The still angry girl cautioned as Ichika turned to face the door. Barely a minute passed before Houki told him that he could turn around, and Ichika saw that the girl was now fully dressed.

"So, you say that you're my room mate now?" Houki asked after a few moments.

"Yes, I am." Ichika replied.

"What are you trying to accomplish?" Houki asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm asking why you are doing this! Males and Females aren't supposed to share a room after they turn 7! It's common sense!"

"Where did you get that idea from? But in all seriousness, I agree that we need to lay down a few ground rules, and sooner rather than later." Ichika said.

"Did you ask to be placed in this room with me?" Houki asked.

"What? I didn't even know you were here until I saw you earlier today! How could I request to room with you when almost all my time was spent in the classroom?" Ichika exclaimed, causing Houki to sigh.

"Then I guess we are stuck here for now. Now, since we are going to be living together, I do see the need to lay down some rules. Firstly, I will be using the shower from Seven to Eight. You can use it from Eight to Nine."

"That's an awfully long time to take a shower." Ichika commented.

"Hmph. I happen to enjoy relaxing in... why am I telling you this?" Houki's face grew dark again.

"Don't worry, those times seem acceptable for now. Do you have anything else to say?"

"Yes."

"And? What is it?"

"If you do anything perverted while I am here, I will kill you." The girl spoke, and Ichika simply nodded, backing away from her. His foot then caught in her bag, and he fell to the floor, feeling something smack him across the face as he did so.

Ichika opened his eyes to see one of them covered by some sort of fabric. He pried the offending object off his eye, and promptly realized what it was.

'Oh crap.' Was the last thought in his head before he rolled out of the way of a freshly enraged Houki's strike. With that thought in his mind, another duel between the two IS students began.

* * *

Ichika didn't spend much time at breakfast, finishing his meal quickly in order to get away from the room and the stares of the hundreds of girls within. Seriously, could he do anything in this school without a couple hundred whispered conversations starting around him?

Thankfully his older sister cut breakfast short, threatening to assign ten laps around the school track should anyone arrive to class tardy. The mention of laps brought a smile to Ichika's face. At least at this school he wouldn't have an armed Russian chasing after him should he ever have to run around the track.

Soon the bell rang and the second day of school officially started with an announcement from Chifuyu.

"Today we will be deciding on our Class Representative, who will be representing us in the coming inter-class tournament. In addition to the tournament, the Class Representative will also be required to attend any meetings of the Student Council and Committee. If you want, you can consider it as the position of Class Leader. You may either nominate yourself or someone else. Any takers?" Chifuyu spoke.

"I nominate Orimura-kun!" One of the girls raised her hand.

"I agree!" Another girl exclaimed, causing Ichika to groan softly. He really didn't want the extra work that being Class Rep entailed.

"Are there any other nominations? If not, then he will be elected to the position by default." Chifuyu spoke, causing a certain blonde in the back of the classroom to slam her hands against her desk.

"I will not stand for this!" Cecilia Alcott exclaimed, standing up. "This is completely unacceptable!"

"And why is that?" Chifuyu asked.

"Having a man like him as our class representative is an embarrassment! Do you all honestly expect me, Cecilia Alcott, to bear the shame of this for the entire year? Of course, I would see how an uncultured country such as this would perpetuate such a farce, but I thought that you all were better than this!" Ichika's eye twitched.

"And an arrogant snob from Britain such as yourself would be a better candidate? I admit that Japan may not be the greatest country in the world, but at least it has its good points, unlike your own! For example, look how many times has England won the Annual Worst Cuisine award!"

"My country's food is better than yours in every aspect! Do you think you can insult my country and not expect any reprisal?"

Unbeknownst to the arguing pair, a faint smile was visible on Chifuyu's face as she watched the two students square off.

"And what would be that reprisal?" Ichika asked.

"I challenge you to a duel!" Cecilia declared, and Ichika laughed.

"Of course, I accept. What better way to solve our problem than a simple display of strength!"

"If you lose, I will ensure that you are reduced to little more than my servant!"

"Oh? Then how much of a handicap would you like?" Ichika asked tauntingly.

"So you are already asking for a favor from me? Well you won't get it!"

"Of course not! I would be insulted if you were to offer me one. I was simply asking if you would like a handicap from me. After all, the way I see it, you stand no chance." Ichika smirked. Then, the entire class started laughing.

"Are you serious Orimura-kun? The time of men being stronger than women is long past! If anything, the IS has reversed the balance!" One of the students cried.

"Ha! You know, if men and women were to go to war, it wouldn't even be three days before men were defeated!" Cecilia mocked, and the smile on Ichika's face grew.

"Three days, you say?" Ichika held out his hand, and the same baton he had used against Houki the night before appeared in his hand. In addition, the partial deployment activated his IS unit's empathic interface, allowing Ori to see into his mind and gauge his intentions.

"Not even that!" Cecilia declared haughtily.

"Well then..." Ichika walked over to his desk and drew out his datapad. He activated it and pretended to fiddle with the device for a few seconds while Ori hacked into the screen at the front of the room. Soon, Ichika placed the datapad down and turned the device off, his AI companion having alerted him to the screen having changed behind him.

Extending the baton for dramatic effect, Ichika walked to the front of the room, where an improvised presentation was now being shown.

"You say that, on the off chance that men and women were to, at this very moment, enter a state of war, that men would only last three days?" Ichika once again asked Cecilia.

"Of course! Modern weapons are useless against the power of an IS!"

"That, my dear classmates, is a very common misconception. You see, the world's militaries were none too happy about the IS rendering them obsolete, so they did the only thing they could." The screen changed to display several pictures, one of an M2A1 Eisenhower MBT, another of the new American F-36 Raven fighter, and finally of the Japanese Type-4 AIS rifle, which used technology developed by the Organization and shared with the Japanese government in order to create a battlefield-capable version of the Type-2.

"While these images by themselves may not tell you much about current military technology, they do show how modern military weapons incorporate IS technology in order to allow their users to stand a chance against an IS suit. After all, while the IS suit itself cannot be used by most men due to a flaw in its electronic control system, a plasma cannon doesn't care what gender its user is, or whether it is mounted on a tank, or a fighter jet, or a flying middle finger to the laws of physics."

"So what? This just means that our time defeating you will be slightly more difficult!" Cecilia retorted.

"So you need more convincing then? Very well..." At that the screen changed again, this time showing several tables filled with numbers.

"These are the results of what the Americans have designated Operation Flagstaff, or more specifically, these show the aftermath of the first Operation under that name. It is a series of war games that were originally designed to assess the viability of the IS as a weapon of war. For now, let's focus on the results of the mock battle between what, at the time, was the entirety of the United States' IS corps and a large conventional army." One of the tables was highlighted in yellow.

"This mock battle took place approximately a year and a half after the White Knight incident, and thus the conventional forces had no weapons in their arsenal that utilized IS technology. The results were that the conventional forces suffered an almost 80% casualty rate-"

"See? You stand no chance!"

"I wasn't finished, Miss Alcott. In spite of such large casualties, conventional forces emerged victorious, with the entirety of the opposing MPIS force designated as destroyed by the battle's end, and the two True IS units involved, while they were not technically destroyed, were reduced to a state where their pilots could be eliminated and their IS units captured." Ichika pointed to the data in question.

"Wait, what do you mean by that? I thought the combat was simulated, so wouldn't their pilots be able to fight on?." One of the girls in the class asked.

"Of course it was. I simply meant that the True IS units were taken out in a manner similar to checkmating a king in chess. The piece itself hasn't been killed, but it was forced into a situation where, had it been a real fight, the result would have been the destruction or incapacitation of the IS." Ichika replied.

"That proves nothing! At that time the IS unit was still riddled with flaws due to it being such a new piece of technology!" Cecilia replied.

"Of course. Which is why..." The screen changed behind Ichika again. "Which is why the Americans held a second Operation Flagstaff four years later. By then the first Second Generation True IS had just entered service, while IS technology had started to become a part of conventional military gear. This second Operation Flagstaff pitted a larger force of more advanced IS units against a conventional force that was similar in size to the one used in the first such operation, and do you know what the result was? Due to a combination of better tactics, better equipment, and better understanding of their opponents, the casualty rate among conventional forces was 'only' around 60%, and the end result was the same. A victory by conventional forces. You see, even the mightiest beast can be brought down by a thousand tiny cuts, and conventional armed forces are now almost entirely male due to the IS corps taking most female recruits. So, I do not believe that a war between men and women would only last three days before a quick and clean female victory. No, it would be a long, drawn out, and bloody affair that would leave our species crippled. After all, while most IS pilots are women, said pilots only make up a tiny minority of the female population. Do you understand, Miss Alcott?" The screen behind Ichika quickly returned to its normal, pre-presentation state.

'WHACK!' An attendance book slammed into Ichika's head.

"You are not here to teach the class, so if you have nothing else to say regarding the duel, you are to return to your seat!" Chifuyu said, and Ichika nodded.

"So, I believe we were discussing handicaps? How big of one do you want from me?" Ichika asked.

"I will take none. After all, a Representative Candidate like me can easily crush you at your full power." Cecilia replied.

"Good. Orimura-sensei, when will this duel be held?" Ichika asked.

"It will be held next Monday in Arena Three. I believe that will give you two more than enough time to prepare." Ichika saw the smile on his sister's face, and returned one of his own.

"I will not disappoint you, Chifuyu-nee." That earned him another smack from the attendance book, but Ichika noticed that it was much lighter than before.

* * *

"Orimura." Chifuyu announced at the start of class the following day.

"Yes, Orimura-sensei?" Ichika replied.

"This concerns the duel that you have with Miss Alcott in a few days. I was just wondering if you had considered the fact that you do not have an IS in which to duel." His sister spoke.

"What do you mean? I have my IS right here with me." Ichika indicated at his watch.

"I designed and built it myself, and then once I realized I could pilot it, I optimized it for my own personal use once WSI was kind enough to lend it to me." Ichika spoke, causing a fresh round of whispers to spread around the room.

"You mean to say that you already have your own personal machine?" Chifuyu asked. Ichika could tell that his sister was genuinely shocked at that.

"Of course. I would never accept a challenge that I wasn't prepared to meet, after all." Ichika replied.

"Excellent!" The voice of Cecilia Alcott came from the back of the room. "Now that I know you have a personal machine, I can in turn use my own Personal IS without being accused of fighting unfairly!"

"I could have beaten you even without my personal unit." Ichika said. It was a lie, but Cecilia didn't need to know that.

"I will enjoy crushing your overconfidence in the arena." Cecila replied simply before sitting down. The lack of arrogant bluster meant that the girl was truly angry.

However, this lack of speech on her part allowed class to proceed as normal without any more interruptions.

* * *

Once the period ended, Ichika found himself eating lunch in the academy cafeteria, while Houki sat across from him.

"Are you really that confident you can beat Cecilia?" Houki asked after a few minutes.

"I'm not confident. Given my training and IS, I know that I can beat her." Ichika replied.

"Training? What training? You've barely known of your piloting skills for a month! She's been learning how to use an IS for years, and has earned her title by becoming the best IS pilot of her age group in England! Plus, her status as a representative candidate means that her personal IS was specifically built for her! Granted, you personalized your IS as well, but a mere month of training cannot equate to Cecilia's capability!" Houki said, drawing stares from several nearby students. Ichika thought he heard a certain blonde laugh in the background.

"Even if it were my first time piloting my IS, which it is not, I am certain that I will be able to beat her. My machine is just that much better than hers. After all, I designed it to be unbeatable." Ichika replied.

"Every IS is designed to be unbeatable, Ichika, and none of them are! Stop deluding yourself like this!" Houki said.

"Of course mine isn't unbeatable. I can already think of one way I can be defeated, and there are likely many other ways of doing so. However, Cecilia's IS, the Blue Tears, is not equipped to do so. Besides, the arena puts her at a disadvantage against me, what with her IS being designed almost exclusively for ranged combat. Her main weapon can easily shoot across the IS Academy Island and hit a target the size of a pinhead on the other side, while her drones can operate from beyond visual range! The arena almost completely negates these two advantages, especially that of the drones. She is forced to remain immobile within range of my primary weapon while concentrating on using the drone system, which is the primary weakness of her IS." Ichika replied. Houki simply growled and returned to her food.

"Hey, you're that boy right? I heard you're the one who challenged the English Representative Candidate." An unfamiliar voice asked, cutting into the conversation.

"Actually, she challenged me, but otherwise you are correct." Ichika replied.

"I see. Well, anyway, you're still new to piloting an IS, right? I was just wondering if you would be willing to let me teach you... about the IS of course!" That last part was spoken hastily.

"Thank you for offering, but-" Ichika began, but Houki cut him off.

"That will not be necessary. I will be training him." Houki replied.

"Oh? And what would a freshman like you have to offer that I, a Senior, cannot?" The girl asked smugly.

"My name is Shinonono Houki, and I am Dr. Tabane's younger sister. There is no need for you to get involved." Houki replied simply, causing the girl to gasp in shock.

"Excuse me, but-" Ichika tried to speak up again, but was cut off.

"Ha! If being Dr. Tabane's sister was related to your skill, you would be Japan's IS Representative Candidate. However, your name isn't on the list, making you just another student!" The girl crowed.

"Oh? And your name is on the list?" Houki asked.

"Of course not! I, however, clearly have much more experience in the IS than you do... Shinonono-san."

"I am sorry, but I will have to respectfully decline both your offers of training me." Ichika cut into the conversation, causing both girls to turn towards him.

"What?" The two girls said simultaneously.

"It is not because I think you're bad pilots or anything, it's just that I train better on my own." Ichika said.

"But how will you get better without a partner?" The senior girl asked.

"Well, you know how there are IS simulators, right?" Ichika began.

"You don't seriously expect to just use one of those! They're nothing compared to the real thing!" The Senior exclaimed.

"Of course I'm not just going to hop in the simulator! However, back at WSI my IS trainer asked someone to make me a training program based on the simulator in order to allow me to keep my skills sharp." That was the cover story that Ichika and Raymond had come up with after the scientist had attached the IS Guide to Ori's control system (After a thorough sweep for bugs and failsafes that came up clean, of course). While the Guide didn't contain blueprints that could be copied into the Infinite Arsenal, it did give highly detailed information on practically every True IS in the world. That, coupled with Ori's holo-projector, allowed the AI to create and control training holograms that would perform on par with the real thing, although the AI couldn't emulate the pilot's skill or any particular quirks they might have. In addition, training against holograms meant that Ichika couldn't use his mech suit's special ability. No, that would only work against a real IS.

"Oh? Then I am sure you wouldn't mind showing me this training program." The Senior replied. Looking at Houki, Ichika saw the girl was similarly determined.

"Alright. Can you arrange for one of the training arenas to be clear for my use?" Ichika asked the Senior.

"O-Okay!" The girl said quickly before running off, most likely to do just that.

"Did you just say that to get rid of her?" Houki's voice sounded almost... hopeful?

"Of course not. Every word I spoke was the truth." Ichika lied.

"I see..." Houki's face fell, and she didn't speak for the rest of the meal.

* * *

Ichika kept his word, and as soon as school had ended he had walked towards the training arenas, where he was met by the senior girl from before. Houki came down a few minutes later, and soon the trio entered one of the open training arenas.

"Can you two head up to the stands please? I wouldn't want you caught in the crossfire." Ichika asked, and after a brief moment, the two girls nodded, leaving Ichika to enter the arena alone.

He walked out onto the sandy floor, looking at the stands to see that, in addition to Houki and the senior, there were quite a few other girls present as well. Ichika sighed, and activated his IS. Immediately, he felt himself shift a few feet into the air, while a carapace of metal took shape around his body. He looked down at his IS, watching it quickly take form. He wasn't sure why this happened, but for some reason the complete deployment process of the IS severely slowed the pilot's perception of time. He supposed that it gave the pilot time to cancel their deployment should something come up. As such, while to the outside world the deployment process took a second at most, it took easily ten times that from Ichika's point of view.

As the IS took form around him, Ichika quickly inspected the unit's default armaments. On his left arm sat a giant, twin barreled 40mm railgun, the weapon being the IS unit's main weapon in its default configuration. His right arm mounted a powerful barrier shield projector, while his left shoulder mounted a Free Electron Laser for point defense purposes. Finally, each wrist contained an energy dagger for melee combat. Above and behind each shoulder floated a small, hexagonal drone, each drone equipped with another shield projector similar to the one on his right arm. The Infinite Arsenal took quite a bit of time to analyze its opponent's equipment, and as such its equipment was largely defensive in nature, thus giving it the time to assimilate and then fabricate the opponent's equipment.

As his visor snapped down over his head and his suit pressurized, Ichika turned off his helmet's speakers, his voice only reaching his suit's AI.

"Ori, can you get a hologram of the IS designated Blue Tears up and running?" Ichika asked.

"Of course I can!" The AI said, and the image of the desired IS shimmered into being a short distance away from Ichika. The only difference between it and the actual IS was the hologram's slight transparent quality, as well as the fact that the pilot had taken the form of Ori's avatar.

"Commencing training match." Ichika spoke, this time to the outside world, and promptly raised his IS suit's main gun towards his opponent.

* * *

Houki watched from the stands as Ichika deployed his IS, the grey and black suit taking form around him almost instantly. The unit didn't look particularly special, aside from the oversized, double barreled gun on its left arm, as well as the fact that the pilot was completely encased in armor. Houki wondered why that was the case. After all, didn't all IS suits have an Absolute Defense system installed to protect their pilots, thus negating their need for protection?

Looking around, Houki saw several other students critically examining the IS, as well as... Houki's eyes widened as she caught sight of Chifuyu close by her. The older woman had a frown on her face as she examined Ichika's IS.

* * *

Her brother's unit wasn't built for tournaments, that much was clear to Chifuyu as soon as she saw the armor around the pilot. It was common knowledge that the Absolute Defense system of the IS would render the pilot completely invulnerable should the regular shields fail, thus making pilot armor useless on the IS suit. However, Chifuyu also knew that the ADS would render the IS inoperable during the period in which it was active. In a tournament, the activation of the ADS would mean the defeat of the pilot, but on the battlefield it was more of a liability than a strength. After all, the ADS could only be active for a short period of time before it needed to be deactivated, and the IS was completely defenseless while it was online. This meant that even an infantryman could walk up to a downed IS, wait for the ADS to drop, and then put a bullet in the defenseless pilot.

The simple presence of pilot armor meant that Ichika had anticipated this, and included a simple countermeasure. Her frown deepened as she watched Ichika duel the hologram he had created. Why would Ichika include something like this in something that would never need it... unless he knew that he would be using it in a scenario where the ADS would be more of a liability than a lifesaver.

'Why does my brother possess an IS that is clearly designed for war?' Chifuyu wondered as Ichika defeated his first opponent, causing two more identical holograms of the Blue Tears to form on either side of him.

Chifuyu continued to watch the fight, noticing that Ichika was much more hard pressed to defeat two copies of Blue Tears at the same time, but he still managed to do so. An amused grin briefly took form on her face as she saw Cecilia in the stands, a shocked look on the blonde girl's face.

Three Blue Tears holograms proved to be too much for Ichika, although her little brother had managed to last for a commendable amount of time before the sheer volume of incoming fire whittled down his shields. Chifuyu was the only one that noticed Ichika continuing to fight for a few moments after his shields had dropped, his flight only coming to a halt once he took a hit to the chest from one of the holographic drones. Had it been a real battle, Chifuyu knew that it would have been a killing blow.

As her brother stored away his IS, the holograms shimmering out of existence around him, Chifuyu could only stare, an unreadable expression on her face. What could have caused her brother to design an IS for the battlefield? Chifuyu had been informed that Ichika had originally designed the IS for another recipient, before the revelation of his piloting ability got it assigned to him instead. As she walked out of the arena, her mind was filled with questions brought up by her brother's IS.

Who was the original recipient, that asked for an IS designed for war instead of tournament duels? And Ichika, being the designer, had to know of his IS suit's intended purpose, so why did he agree to design and build it? That, and Ichika's performance spoke of far more experience in an IS than just the month of training that he claimed to have. Something important was going on, and Ichika was clearly involved. Chifuyu vowed then and there to get to the bottom of this. If her worst suspicions were true... no, she refused to believe that her sweet little brother could possibly be working for Phantom Task.

She needed time to think and come up with a plan. Simply asking her brother would likely result in another, almost but not quite believable cover story, and could put whoever was in charge of him on alert. No, she would need to do this without her brother's help, and without involving anyone she didn't trust intimately. That meant that she could only involve three people, Ichika, Maya, and of course, Dr. Tabane. Ichika was possibly compromised, and Dr. Tabane was out of her reach for now, which meant that the only person she could trust with this task would be Maya. With those thoughts, Chifuyu began to make her way to where the shy, green haired teacher spent most of her time outside of the classroom.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's a wrap for this chapter! Originally, I had intended to include the actual duel with Cecilia in this chapter, but certain other sections ending up longer than anticipated meant that it will happen early in the next chapter instead.**

 **That being said, this chapter did give me some trouble while I was writing it, as I was trying out alternative methods of slipping in information aside from infodumps, namely showcasing an ability and then describing the backstory behind it rather than write several long paragraphs detailing every little bit about the Infinite Arsenal and then going from there. I have to say that I don't really like using the former method, as in my opinion it could easily lead to situations like the following one.**

 **"Wait, if Ichika always carried a supply of M79 Anti-Tank Grapefruits with him, then why did he wait to use them until now instead of two chapters ago when he found himself surrounded by tanks and without his IS?"**

 **See why I don't like it? However, the alternative is long, dry infodumps filled with technobabble and pseudoscience that could detract from the reading experience. While I personally like reading detailed descriptions of technology, I know that most people don't, meaning that if I want to keep this fic presentable, I have to use mostly alternative methods.**

 **Or I could just be concerned about a problem that doesn't actually exist, although it usually does. Thanks for reading this chapter, please review/fav/follow, whatever floats your boat. Flamers will have their housing information leaked to evil white rabbits, whether they are the Caerbannog kind or the Tabane kind remains to be seen.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Trying to get the hang of social interaction between Ichika and his future Harem (Although I don't think Harem is the right word to use for a bunch of girls fighting for Ichika's exclusive attention, although that could just be me.) Also, please correct me if I used any foreign terms incorrectly. My knowledge of languages only encompasses English and Russian, not Japanese, so I might use honorifics and vocabulary incorrectly. Please inform me if I make such a mistake, so that I may correct it.**

 **Chapter 5**

"You're overthinking things." Maya spoke a few moments after Chifuyu had voiced her suspicions to the green haired teacher.

"Oh? And what makes you say that? My little brother has skills he should not have, an IS that's not designed for tournaments, and possible connections to an unknown group. What makes you say I'm overthinking things?" Chifuyu asked.

"Well, for starters, the truth is likely far more simple than that. You know how some corporations are these days, after all. According to what you told me, Ichika-kun has been working around IS suits for quite some time, and it is more than likely that he activated one earlier than he claims to have. Then, the corporation would have hushed things up and secretly trained him in preparation for a big reveal. After all, a male who appears to be a natural IS pilot would make for great publicity!" Maya replied, giving Chifuyu the secondary cover story that had been prepared in case someone saw through the original.

"That explains the skills, but it doesn't tell me why Ichika's IS is built like that, nor about his connections to some mysterious organization."

"That organization likely doesn't exist. If what I said earlier is true, then Ichika designed and built that IS for his own personal use from the start, rather than take over a unit designed for someone else's use. As for his IS design... I don't think he knew exactly what he was doing at the time." Maya's expression grew somber.

"Elaborate."

"Do you remember what you told me a few years ago? Back when you first got your job at the academy?" Maya asked.

"I told you many things."

"I mean your concerns about Dr. Tabane."

"Oh..." Chifuyu trailed off as she remembered that particular conversation.

"Exactly. I believe that whoever mentored Ichika in IS design had similar concerns, and encouraged Ichika to make the modifications to his IS." Maya spoke.

"Si vis pacem, para bellum. If you want peace, prepare for war. The problem with that is, my concerns regard what happens after the Doctor dies, and that definitely won't be happening for a long time. Ichika is simply too early in his preparations."

"Who says it has to happen with the Doctor's death? All it would take is someone else developing their own version of the IS core and making it public. The country that performed the deed would likely keep the method to itself, which in turn would make it a target. That would easily be enough to start a war, and it could conceivably happen in our lifetime." Maya spoke seriously.

"So you say that Dr. White foresaw all this and made Ichika alter his IS to make it better suited to the battlefield?" Chifuyu asked skeptically.

"Exactly."

"But what makes you think that Ichika would want to fight?"

"He doesn't have to want to fight. He is an IS pilot, after all. Should war break out, he will be forced into fighting for his county, just like every other student here." Maya said sadly.

"I understand that..." Chifuyu sighed. The room was silent for a few moments.

"But on the bright side, Ichika's definitely not affiliated with any sort of shadowy organization! I mean, does this adorable face look like it belongs to a terrorist?" Maya brightened up and held up a small photo of Ichika. Then she realized the identity of the person she was talking to.

"Oh? And why do you have a picture of my little brother's 'adorable face' with you?" Chifuyu was smiling as well now, all thoughts of a grim future pushed away.

"W-well... It's not what it looks like!" Maya panicked, blushing. Chifuyu laughed at that.

"So you're into that sort of thing now, are you? Well, don't expect me to just let you snatch him away! I am his big sister after all, and it's my job to frighten away all potential suitors!"

"I told you, it's not like that!"

"You don't have to be so embarrassed about it. After all, Ichika does have quite a way with women." At that, Maya's face had taken on the shade of a tomato.

"N-no! I don't-"

"Don't worry though, Yamada-kun..." Chifuyu leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"If you can impress me enough, maybe I'll let you have him!" That was the last straw for the poor green haired teacher, who promptly fell over in a dead faint, her face flushed red.

"That was too easy." Chifuyu smirked, holding up the photo that Maya had dropped.

"For your sake and mine, Ichika, please prove Maya right." Chifuyu set the picture down on the teacher's desk, before turning and exiting the room.

* * *

The days leading up to the duel passed by quickly, with Ichika spending most of his time outside of class training. He had noticed that Cecilia had started training as well now that she had observed his skill and realized that she wouldn't be getting an easy victory. To that end, she had conscripted the aid of several other students, using her name and status to grant them access to the Academy's stores of training IS suits. Ichika had observed one of these mock duels, which pitted Cecilia against multiple opponents in various MPIS Trainers. The trainers were heavily modified versions of their military equivalents, with an improved power source and a smaller variant of the ADS installed. This came at the cost of the Trainer IS units being unable to operate outside of Academy grounds, as their power source relied on Wireless Power Transfer from a generator that had been gifted to the Academy by Dr. Tabane.

From his observation of the blonde, Ichika noted that she did possess a fair amount of skill. However, that skill was often negated by her constant need to show off. Everything about the girl's style seemed to be based around showing off for the crowd, ranging from the way she deployed her IS, with her rifle pointed sideways rather than at her enemy, to the fact that she tended to toy with her opponents before finishing them off, sometimes even allowing them to destroy her remote controlled drones to give them a false sense of victory.

With those thoughts in mind, Ichika walked towards Arena Three. Soon, he had entered the arena's deployment tunnel, where he was met by Houki.

"Orimura-kun? Orimura-kun, can you hear me?" Maya's voice rang out over the intercom before Ichika had a chance to speak to his childhood friend.

"I hear you. Should I deploy my IS now?" Ichika asked.

"Please do. Your opponent is already waiting for you in the arena. You should hurry up and go out as well, there are other people waiting to use the arena after we have finished." The voice of Chifuyu replied.

"Understood." Ichika replied simply as he was once again encased in armor.

"Ichika..." Houki began, but trailed off.

"What is it Houki?" Ichika replied.

"Um... good luck. I hope you win." With those words, Houki left the room.

"Thank you, Houki." Ichika replied right before the door closed behind her. Then, he turned off his speaker.

"Ori, are you ready?" Ichika asked.

"I was born ready!" The AI replied, and Ichika laughed. That was certainly true, both in the literal and metaphorical sense.

"Alright. Infinite Arsenal, launching." With those words, Ichika rocketed out of the tunnel, weapons aimed at his target as soon as she came into view.

"I will give you one final chance. Get on your knees before me and beg for forgiveness, and I will grant it." Cecilia taunted.

"No thank you. I would rather not give up my certain victory." Ichika replied.

"If you won't submit of your own free will, then I will make you!" Cecilia shouted, aiming her weapon at Ichika. By the time the gun had been brought to point at him however, Ichika had already fired the first shots of the match before rolling out of the way as his opponent returned fire.

"Ori, start analysis of her rifle." Ichika said, and the first use of the Infinite Arsenal's special ability in combat commenced.

"Analysis commencing. Estimated time to completion: One minute." Ori spoke, and Ichika smiled. His IS was primarily defense oriented in its loadout, allowing him to last long enough to analyze the weapon. Of course, with his opponent not yet using her drones, Ichika didn't need his shields, as he was easily able to dodge the incoming shots.

"Analysis complete. Estimated time of fabrication: Three minutes." Ori replied a minute later.

"Don't start fabrication, all my IS unit's weapon hardpoints are full. Wait until she launches her drones, and begin analyzing them when she does." Ichika ordered.

"Understood."

Fortunately for Ichika, Cecilia saw that her current plan of attack was not working.

"Don't think that you are anywhere close to beating me! I haven't even started to fight yet!" Cecilia taunted once more, and with those words four angular drones detached from the back of her IS and flew towards Ichika, weapons blazing.

"Ori, mark one drone for analysis, then I'll take out the rest." One of the drones promptly lit up on his visor, meaning that it was the drone that was being analyzed. Ichika smiled, and activated his point-defense FEL. The shoulder mounted laser swiveled with his line of sight and locked onto one of the unmarked drones, opening fire as it did so. While the beam itself was invisible, the effects were most certainly not, and a plume of fire almost immediately blossomed from the targeted drone.

As his laser was taking out one drone, Ichika took aim with his railgun and fired a long burst at Cecilia, who was currently immobilized due to the concentration required to utilize her IS unit's main weapons. Her eyes widened, and she rolled out of the way, but was still clipped by the first two shots that Ichika had fired.

As Cecilia moved, the first targeted drone exploded, and the rest were rendered temporarily immobile, allowing Ichika to lock his laser on to another drone. That was when Cecilia surprised him by revealing her suit's missile launchers early. In her training rounds, those launchers were always kept in reserve, never fired until the last moment as a surprise attack.

"Looks like she's decided to take this fight seriously." Ori commented as Ichika frantically dodged out of the way of the two rockets, locking onto one with his laser as the missile reversed its direction and came in for another pass. Two large green hexagons bloomed into existence on either side of him as his shield drones activated, blocking the incoming fire from Cecilia's own remote controlled bits. One beam got through though, and Ichika watched his IS unit's shield counter tick down.

An explosion behind him told Ichika that his laser had destroyed the first missile, but it was too late to lock onto the second one, and Ichika barely dodged out of the way of the projectile.

"Drone analysis complete. Estimated time of fabrication: One minute per drone." Ori reported.

"Damn, that's too long." Ichika thought for a moment.

"What's the main reason for that?" He asked as his laser locked on to the other missile and destroyed it before turning back to the damaged drone it has been tracking earlier.

"The drone chassis is easy, and it should only take me around fifteen seconds to build one. However, the weapon is highly complex and takes three times that in order to build and mount." Ori reported.

"Do we have any other weapon systems available that will fit in the chassis then?" Ichika asked as Cecilia fired another two missiles, her second drone exploding as she did so.

"Well, the wrist mounted energy daggers will fit, and they take less time to produce, but that would remove the drone's ranged capability."

"Knife missiles? Perfect. What's the estimated fabrication time?" Ichika asked.

"Thirty seconds per drone."

"Good. Make me six. Be ready to assume control of them once they're deployed. After deploying the first six, continue fabrication of additional drones. Deploy those at will."

"Understood." At that, a timer appeared in the corner of Ichika's HUD. He now had to last three minutes before his opponent, who had just fired yet another pair of missiles, would have the tables turn against her.

As his shield drones kept Cecilia's beam bits from hitting him, Ichika accelerated away from the missiles, his laser locking on to each incoming projectile in turn and destroying it.

A minute passed, and Ichika caught one of the beam bits in his railgun sights and neatly destroyed it. Two more missiles were fired at him in reprisal, with a jet of plasma from Cecilia's sniper following close behind. Apparently his opponent was good enough to concentrate both on one drone and her IS at the same time, as Cecilia's last remaining drone had not stopped firing while Cecilia launched her missiles. However, that drone did not last long, as Ichika quickly lined it up in his sights and fired, destroying it.

One minute remained until fabrication completion.

"Dodge, dodge, dodge! Is that all you can do? Is that the extent of your so called skill?" Cecilia called out as her missile launchers released another pair of homing warheads, her rifle firing streak after streak of blue light at its target. There were eight missiles in the air now, all on Ichika's tail. One went off, the explosion taking out three nearby missiles as well, as Ichika's point defense laser had hit its target. Another missile was destroyed, and then another.

Fabrication complete.

Cecilia's next shot met a hexagonal barrier that now emanated from Ichika's right arm.

"Oh? So you've decided to stand and fight now?" Cecilia mocked.

"Deploy knife missiles." Ichika said simply, and six grey bits shimmered into existence around him.

* * *

"Where did those come from?" Maya gasped as she watched the battle from the observation room. Of course, she already knew the answer, having been briefed on Ichika's IS beforehand.

"Ah. I see now." Chifuyu said, more to herself than to the woman beside her.

"What is it?" Maya asked.

"Now I see the real strength of Ichika's IS. It's not its defensive capability, after all."

"What?"

"Notice the appearance of those drones. Coloration aside, they are virtually identical to the ones that Cecilia fielded against him earlier on. It seems that Ichika is capable of taking the weapons of his enemies and using them for his own purposes..." Chifuyu trailed off as energy blades ignited from the tips of all six drones, the weapons in question charging towards Cecilia.

"But didn't Cecilia's drones have ranged weapons mounted on them?" Maya asked.

"Of course. Ichika must have a way of altering the design in combat. It looks like my brother is piloting a truly formidable machine."

Maya stayed silent, and continued to watch the battle.

* * *

Houki watched as the first knife missile impacted Cecilia's IS, the drone skidding off the shield and flying back to get some distance between it and its target before coming around for another pass. Cecilia had managed to down one of the drones with a well placed rifle shot, but once they closed the distance it was all over for her. Her gun was too bulky to fire accurately at such close range, and her missiles would end up hurting her as well as the drones.

Evidently, these thoughts had crossed Cecilia's mind, as the girl promptly turned away and fled, the drones pursuing her like a swarm of angry hornets. Houki's attention then shifted to Ichika, who was hovering a fair distance away from his opponent and taking aim with his weapon. As her childhood friend opened fire, however, Houki saw another knife drone appear over his shoulder, activate its weapon, and soar towards its target. Houki's eyes widened.

It was impossible for an IS to repair that fast, even if the item being repaired was something as simple as a knife drone. So how... Thirty seconds later, Houki got her answer when another drone appeared, bringing the total amount of active drones up to seven. But then why did Ichika wait to deploy it? Surely it would have been better to launch them all at once... unless he didn't have that drone available back then! Houki gasped as she realized what Ichika was doing. He wasn't repairing his damaged drones, nor was he holding them back in reserve. Instead, he was building new weapons on the battlefield.

* * *

Ichika saw a pair of missiles launch from Cecilia's IS, one heading to him, while the other shot towards Ori's drone swarm. The drones scattered, the missile destroying one but leaving the others undamaged, while a laser detonated the second missile in midair.

"How are you controlling these and your IS at the same time?" Cecilia cried out as she fired wildly at the drones pursuing her. Ichika didn't dignify her with a response, instead firing another burst at her from his railgun, but despite her pursuers, Cecilia managed to evade the incoming fire. However, the girl was unable to dodge the newly fabricated knife missile that headed her off, the weapon once again skipping off her shields, doing a small amount of damage in the process.

"Ori, this is taking too long." Ichika said.

"I'm doing everything I can right now. Unless you've got an idea to make this go faster, then just keep firing!" Ori replied as Ichika fired another burst from his main gun.

"I think I have one. Ori, how fast would it take to make one of those drones if we took out the weapon and simply filled the thing with explosives?" Ichika asked.

"Fifteen seconds per drone, but I don't have any explosive available to me." Ori replied.

"Then begin analysis of Cecilia's missile launchers and their ammo. Can you do that while still keeping command of the knife missiles?" Ichika asked.

"Of course I can! The weapon's pretty simple, so it shouldn't take too long." And indeed, barely thirty seconds passed before the AI reported the task's completion.

"It's done. Now, I'll just stuff high explosive into the drone's body and get to work. Now producing suicide drones." Fifteen second later, the first drone of that type shot at Cecilia. Visually, it was identical to the knife missiles, save for the fact that it had no energy blade being emitted from its nose. With a thunderous explosion, the missile struck home, temporarily dazing Cecilia and allowing the swarm of knife missiles to close and deal damage.

"Interceptor!" Cecilia called out desperately, and a blade appeared in her hand. She swatted uselessly at the more agile knife missiles while trying to regain control of her IS, which she quickly managed to do. However, by that time a second explosive drone had already appeared over Ichika's shoulder and was shooting towards her.

Ichika saw the relieved expression on Cecilia's face when the knife missiles retreated, and then saw that expression morph into horror as she caught the second explosive drone streaking towards her barely a second before it slammed into her and detonated. As she struggled to regain control of her IS once again, the knife missiles came back for another pass. Most skipped off her shield, but one did not, instead being halted in the air, its blade several inches away from Cecilia's face. Her IS unit's Absolute Defense System had activated due to her shield's depletion.

A horn sounded out, indicating the end of the match.

"The match is over. The winner is Orimura Ichika." The announcer spoke simply, and Ichika came in for a landing. The knife missiles hovering around Cecilia vanished back into IS-space, where they were soon joined by the rest of Ichika's IS. Cecilia's IS did the same, disappearing in a flash of blue.

"That was a good match." Ichika said as he walked up to his defeated opponent. His offered hand was swatted aside, however, and Cecilia quickly stood up on her own. Then, without speaking a word, she simply turned and left the arena.

* * *

"Congratulations on your victory, Ichika." Chifuyu said.

"Thank you, Chifuyu-nee." Ichika replied, and received a gentle rap on his head for his troubles.

"That's Orimura-sensei to you." Chifuyu said, although in a gentle tone.

"Ichika..." Houki then spoke up from beside him.

"Yes Houki?" Ichika asked.

"What was that ability your IS had? It was almost as if it was building its own weapons mid-battle." Houki said.

"That is what we assumed as well, Orumura-kun." Maya spoke up from her spot beside Chifuyu. Good, that meant he didn't have to come up with a lie on the spot.

"You're right, Houki. That was the main power of my IS, and the reason I decided to call it the Infinite Arsenal." Ichika replied.

"Wait, is it really infinite?" Houki gasped.

"Theoretically, as long as Ichika has the time and resources to do so, I believe that he is indeed capable of producing weapons indefinitely. Is that right, Ichika?" Chifuyu asked.

"I... I think so, but there's a limit to how much I can use at once. For example, if I were to order the IS to keep producing Knife Missiles continuously for a week straight at a rate of two drones per minute, I would end up with around 20,160 drones under my control." Houki's eyes widened at that, and even Maya and Chifuyu seemed impressed.

"However, I can't control that many drones at once, so I can't just sit back and flood the arena with knife missiles." At that, Houki seemed to calm down a bit.

"Yet." Houki returned to her previous state of shock when Ichika tacked that last word on.

"I assume you built this system yourself?" Chifuyu asked.

"I did. It was the main thing I added when I was optimizing the IS for my own use." Ichika said.

"I see." Chifuyu was quiet for a moment, before she spoke again.

"Why are you lying to me?"

"What?" Ichika exclaimed.

"It's obvious from your skill alone that you have been piloting IS suits for much longer than a month. How long did you really know of your ability?"

"I... I can't tell you, the people in charge told me to keep it a secret." Ichika said, causing Houki to look at him strangely.

"Ichika? What are you talking about?" She asked.

"Oh, I forgot! You had already moved away by the time Dr. White contacted me and started teaching me about IS design." Ichika replied.

"Wait, you know how to build IS suits?"

"I do now."

"So you admit that you knew of your IS piloting ability long before it was officially announced?" Chifuyu steered the conversation back on track.

"I... I did." Ichika replied quietly. He never did like keeping secrets from his sister.

"Thank you for telling me this." Chifuyu replied gently. "Now, are there any other secrets you would like to share with me?"

"No..." Ichika said.

"I see. Well, I guess that's all I will be able to get out of you for now. Good job out there, Ichika." With those words, Chifuyu left the room, Maya following after her, leaving Houki and Ichika alone in the room together.

"Ichika? Is something wrong?" Houki said, noticing the expression on Ichika's face.

"It's nothing." Ichika replied.

"Something is bothering you. Is it one of the secrets that Chifuyu mentioned?" Houki moved to block him as he tried to leave the room.

"I said that it is nothing to worry about. Say, do you know where Cecilia went after the match?" Ichika asked, remembering something he had to do.

"What? Why do you want to know that?" Houki asked.

"Well, a few years ago, I met with her father on a business trip, and he told my mentor to give something to Cecilia. I'm not sure if Dr. White remembered though, so I'm going to try and give it to her myself." Ichika said.

"What do you want to give to her?" Houki asked suspiciously.

"It's private..." Ichika said, which caused Houki to suddenly grow angry.

"Hmph! No I don't know where she ran off to!" Houki said, storming out of the room, leaving Ichika alone. He looked around and spotted a conveniently placed bathroom. He walked up to it, only to remember that the bathrooms in IS academy were not divided based on gender, as almost everyone present was female.

Knocking once to make sure it was empty, Ichika went inside and pulled out his phone, dialing Raymond's number.

"Ichika? Is that you?" Raymond asked when he picked up.

"It is. Listen, do you remember that recording that Edmond asked you to give to his daughter when we met him?" Ichika asked. A few moments later, Raymond replied.

"Damn, I had forgotten about it. Why are you asking?"

"I was wondering if you could send it to me. I think that Cecilia needs to see it sooner rather than later."

"Hmm... Wait a moment please." The line went silent for a few minutes before Raymond returned.

"Yes, I can send it to you. It's already edited to remove any trace of our organization's existence, so secrecy won't be a problem. By the way, how is Cecilia?"

"She's become England's Representative Candidate, just as you said she would. I've just finished a match against her, and if she hadn't decided to show off against me, she could have posed a legitimate threat."

"That's good to hear. At least Ed's gotten what he wanted, even if he didn't live to see it."

"He's dead?" Ichika asked. He hadn't heard.

"Yeah, he died the day after we visited him, actually." Raymond said sadly.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Ichika replied.

"Anyway, enough about that. I'm sending you the edited recording now. A few bits are missing, but the message remains. I hope you know what you're doing, Ichika. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Ichika spoke, and Raymond hung up. Ichika left the bathroom and headed up to his dormitory, where he pulled out his datapad and looked through his inbox. Sure enough, there was a message from Raymond, with the recording attached. Now, all Ichika had to do was find its intended recipient. Thankfully, the duel meant that classes weren't cancelled.

* * *

It took Ichika more than an hour to find Cecilia, the girl having retreated to the roof of one of the academy's buildings. Even in private, it seemed that the proud girl had refused to cry, as evidenced by the lack of tear streaks on her face.

"Come to gloat, have you?" She said in English as he walked out onto the roof with her.

"No, I've simply come to give you something." Ichika replied in the same language.

"What is it, your pity? Are you trying to take pity on your poor, defeated opponent? Then I don't need it. Had I not held back, I could have easily defeated you." Cecilia said.

"I'm not here to give you my false pity. No, I am simply here in accordance with one of your father's last requests."

"That drunk is not my father, so don't refer to him as such."

"Do you remember how, when I first met you, I said that your father seemed like a good man?"

"Ha! As if! That drunk was the lowest sort of scum to ever walk this earth! He drank while mother was alive, he drank even more after he died, and eventually he drank himself to death in my study! I found his body, so I should know!"

"Given what life decided to throw at him, I can understand why he gave in to the bottle..." Ichika trailed off.

"He was weak, just like the rest of you men. That's all there is to it." Cecilia said bitterly.

"Yes, he did seem that way to me, but regardless of who he was, I intend to carry out his last request." Ichika said.

"Then give whatever it is to me. I might as well see what he decided to entrust to you."

"Very well. This is a recording of a meeting between me, Dr. Raymond White, and Mr. Edmond Alcott. The meeting took place the day before your father's death." Ichika explained.

"And why are you showing it to me?"

"At the end of the meeting, Edmond asked Dr. White to give this to you, and the doctor in turn entrusted the task to me once he realized I would be attending IS academy." Ichika said as he pulled up the recording and pressed play.

 _"So, I assume you are here for the Kestrel?"_ The voice of Edmond Alcott played first.

 _"Yes, we at WSI believe that the design still has potential, and thus we would like to purchase it. Name your price so that we may negotiate."_ Raymond's voice replied, although Ichika knew that the doctor had never said that during the meeting. He assumed that this was the result of Raymond's editing.

 _"You can keep your money, I've got more than enough of that as is."_ Edmond's voice replied as the recording continued to play.

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"I mean exactly that. You can keep your money, I've got more than enough of that already. No, I want you people to perform a service for me."_

 _"And what would that service be?"_

 _"It concerns my daughter, Cecilia."_

At that, Cecilia seemed to start paying attention. As the recording continued to play, the blonde's eyes began to widen.

 _"You are to make my daughter's dream come true."_ Cecilia's hand clenched at that. Evidently, she had assumed the same thing that Ichika had when he first heard her father's request.

 _"I am asking you to turn her into the best damn IS pilot in the nation."_ That caused Cecilia's clenched fist to fall to her side in shock.

"... _Buying her representative candidacy would break her once she found out. No, I want her to earn the damn position, and if you want the IS you are going to swear to me right now that you will do whatever it takes to help her earn that position!"_

"Father..." Cecila murmured. Her hands were shaking as she listened to the last of the recording.

 _"When you think the time is right, I want you to give this recording to Cecilia. Send it anonymously if you need to, but please, make sure she hears this. I want her to know that I have always loved her, no matter what she thought of me."_ The recording ended. Ichika knew that those last words had been edited, but the feeling behind them had remained the same.

"Father..." Ichika looked over and saw tears running down Cecilia's face.

"Was that true? Was that really what he said?" Cecilia asked.

"He meant every word." Ichika replied. A half truth, but still a truth. That was the last straw, and what remained of Cecilia's composure melted away, the blonde wrapping her arms around Ichika and sobbing into his shoulder. Not knowing what to do, Ichika returned the embrace, allowing the girl whose world he had just turned upside down to stain his uniform with her tears.

He didn't know how long they had stood there, locked together like they were, but eventually Cecilia's sobs slowly stopped, and the girl looked up to see who she had latched onto. A faint blush appeared on her face when she realized how close together they were.

"How? How could he stand it? How could he come home every night, knowing that I would be there, waiting for him, hating him... how could he stand it?" Cecilia said, more to herself than to Ichika. Ichika chose to answer it nonetheless.

"Love makes us do strange things." He said, remembering how his childhood was completely centered around his sister.

"I was wrong earlier, when I said he was weak. For him to endure the hell I put him through..." Cecilia trailed off, more tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"I spent so long thinking that men as a rule were weak, spineless cowards, blind to anything but their own selfish desires, but I guess it turns out I was the blind one." Cecilia gave a self mocking laugh that turned into a sob halfway through.

"We all make mistakes, Cecilia." Ichika said, causing her to look up again. He then noticed that their arms were still wrapped around each other.

"Ichika... can I keep this recording?" Cecilia asked, hesitantly.

"Of course! It is your property, after all." Ichika said. "I'll send it to you later today."

"Thank you." Cecilia sighed, her grip around him tightening.

"Cecilia?" Ichika asked, alarmed. That caused the girl to notice what she was doing, and the pair promptly sprang apart.

"I-I-I... I didn't..." Cecilia said, her tear streaked face now crimson. The girl took a brief moment to compose herself before speaking again.

"When I... When I was crying into your shoulder, why did you return the embrace?" Cecilia asked, her features suddenly unreadable.

"It seemed like the right thing to do at the time." Ichika replied nervously.

"I see..." Cecilia said, leaning against the railing. The sun was setting by now, casting the rooftop in its orange light.

"Can you stay up here with me? Just for a while?" Cecilia asked when Ichika began to walk towards the door. Ichika didn't reply, instead he simply turned around and walked up to the railing, leaning down beside the English girl.

"I'm sorry..." Cecilia said after a few moments had passed.

"About what?" Ichika asked.

"Back in the classroom a week ago... I apologize for what I said to you." Cecilia replied.

"It's alright. I forgive you." Ichika replied.

"Thank you."

The pair simply stood there for a while, watching as the sun slowly set.

"Ichika? Are you... up... here..." Houki's voice caused the pair to turn around, and Ichika saw the girl in question standing in the doorway, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. Ichika noticed that while he and Cecilia had been watching the sunset, the girl had wrapped one of her arms around him without him noticing.

"Houki?" Ichika asked, which seemed to snap the girl out of her shocked state and cause her to run back down the stairs.

"I'm sorry Cecilia, but I have to go now. I'll send you the recording later as promised." Ichika replied, before rushing down the stairs. He didn't see the dejected look that crossed Cecilia's face at that declaration, and he was in too much of a hurry to see the blonde girl turn to follow him, staying just out of his sight.

Ichika found Houki under a tree a few minutes later, the girl having grabbed a branch and, swinging it like a makeshift Shinai, the enraged girl advanced on him.

"How dare you Ichika!" The long haired girl cried as she swung at him, the branch being parried by Ichika's partially deployed baton.

"What did I do wrong? I just gave Cecilia what I needed to, and then stayed behind to comfort her when I saw what she was going through!" Ichika replied.

"Oh, so that was you comforting her that I saw?"

"Of course! She asked me to stay with her for a while and I did!"

"How convenient! I suppose you would have done anything she asked you to then?" A blue ray of light shot between the fighting pair, incinerating Houki's weapon.

"How dare you! How dare you assume that I would take advantage of Ichika like that!" Cecilia stepped out from behind a nearby tree, one of Blue Tears' drones hovering over her shoulder.

"I know your kind! Of course you would!" Houki shouted back while Ichika slowly backed away from the pair.

"What is going on here?" That voice made everyone present freeze. Ichika turned around to see Chifuyu staring at them.

"Well..." Ichika began, but his sister cut him off.

"I see now. Ichika, I pity you. Now, all three of you, ten laps around the school track." Chifuyu spoke.

"What?" The same word came from all three students present.

"You heard me. Miss Alcott, you are being punished for partially deploying an IS without permission. Shinonono-san, you are being punished for instigating the fight. As for you, Orimura..." At that his sister looked at him critically.

"You could use the exercise." With those words, the three students marched to the track, Chifuyu following after them.

* * *

"How... did you run so fast?" Cecilia panted as she finished her last lap. Houki and Ichika had finished a few minutes earlier and were now resting in the shade of a nearby tree.

"It seems that unlike you, the two of us understand the importance of physical fitness." Houki taunted, although her exhaustion showed in her voice.

"I thought it was pretty easy... at least this time I didn't have a crazy Russian running after me." Ichika commented. That second part was mumbled under his breath.

"Hmph! A noble lady like me shouldn't have to do this... not that I find it unappealing or anything!" Cecilia hurriedly tacked on the second part after noticing Ichika was nearby.

"Let's not start fighting again, please." Ichika sighed as he lay down on the grass. A few moments later, Cecilia lay down beside him. Not wanting to be outdone, Houki lay down on his other side. The tension between the girls was easily noticeable, so Ichika decided to do the smart thing. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, intent on acting as a buffer zone between the two girls around him.

* * *

Ichika awoke on a bed rather than on the ground where he fell asleep. Looking around, he saw Cecilia sitting on the bed beside his, while the sound of a shower running indicated that someone else was in the room.

"Is this my room?" Ichika asked as he sat up, still half asleep. He knew the answer before Cecilia confirmed it.

"Yes, it is. The two of us had to carry you up here..." Cecilia trailed off.

"Thank you." The room was silent for a while, save for the sound of the shower running.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Ichika looked around for his datapad, finding it on the bedside table.

"Where should I send the recording to?" Ichika asked after preparing an email.

"Oh! Give it to me, I'll handle it." Cecilia took the device from him, typed in an email address, and sent herself the message.

"Thank you." The British girl said as she handed back the device.

"It's not a problem." Ichika replied. The room was silent once more, as not even the shower was making noise now.

The door opened, and Houki stepped out of the bathroom, already dressed in a pink bathrobe.

"You two had better not been up to anything indecent while I was in the shower." Houki threatened.

"Of course not! Why would we be doing anything like that?" Ichika said. Houki simply stared for a few seconds.

"The shower is open, if you want to use it." She said a few seconds later, and Ichika nodded his thanks. As he was about to enter the shower, he turned around and saw the two girls already glaring at each other. Knowing Houki, Ichika realized that he had to defuse the tension somehow, preferably before his room was turned into a warzone.

"You two better not start doing anything indecent while I'm in here!" Ichika called out, attempting to ease the mood with a joke. In retrospect, he realized that those words were probably not the best thing to say at the moment, as the two girls turned to him, faces crimson. Cecilia's left eye was twitching, while Houki's right was having similar problems. Ichika hurriedly slammed the door shut and locked it, feeling a pair of bodies impact against it less than a second later.

Ichika's sigh of relief was short lived though, as moments later a wooden blade punched through the door, courtesy of Houki.

"Pervert! I knew you just wanted to peek at me!" Ichika shouted out through the newly made hole, moving his head back just in time for a second gap to form in the locked door.

Needless to say, the following shower was one of the most uncomfortable experiences he had ever been through.

"Move over! I want to see too!" Ichika heard Cecilia's voice over the sound of running water.

"Make your own hole! This one's mine!" Houki's voice replied. Cecilia took that as her cue to partially deploy one of her Blue Tears, using the drone's laser as a blowtorch to make her own peephole.

"Why me?" Ichika said to himself as he raised the water's temperature, causing the room to fill with steam, while he struggled not to scream in pain at the newly scalding water. Oh well... his privacy was worth the pain.

* * *

The next day saw Class 1-1 outside on the academy practice field, practicing basic IS maneuvers.

"Orimura, Alcott. As you two are in possession of a personal IS, you will be used to demonstrate. Please deploy your IS." Chifuyu ordered.

"Understood." The two named students chorused, and complied. Less than a second later, both Blue Tears and Infinite Arsenal were deployed around their pilots.

"Alright, now get into the air." Chifuyu ordered, and the two IS units rocketed into the sky, climbing until they had reached around two thousand meters, where they leveled out.

"Is everything alright Ichika?" Cecilia asked.

"Everything's fine. Why are you asking?" Ichika replied.

"Well, from what I've heard, you've only been flying an IS for about a month, so..."

"Don't worry, my instructor made sure I was more than capable of something as simple as this!" Ichika replied.

"Oh... You must be a natural at this then." Cecilia commented.

"You should have seen me when I first started out! I'm pretty sure the training room floor hasn't had the dents taken out of it yet!" Ichika laughed, remembering his first attempt at flying an IS under Yukari's tutelage.

"What happened?" Cecilia asked.

"Oh, I just tried to follow what the manual said. I imagined a pyramid, and ended up flying headfirst into the training room ceiling, and then I accelerated downwards at full speed. I nearly forced this thing's ADS to engage from the impact." Of course, the Kestrel didn't have an ADS, but Ichika had indeed lowered the shields to critical levels from his first flight attempt.

"That must have been embarrassing." Cecilia laughed.

"Oh it was. I remember this one time when I-" Ichika began, but was cut off by an incoming transmission.

"Alright, cut the chatter. Orimura, Alcott, I want you two to perform a vertical dive, pulling up and coming to a complete halt within half a meter of the ground." Chifuyu ordered.

"Ladies first." Ichika gestured as he and Cecilia hovered in midair.

"Such a gentleman!" Cecilia called out, right before she accelerated down towards the ground. A few seconds later, she kicked up a plume of dust as she pulled out of the dive centimeters above the ground.

"Alright. My turn." Ichika said, before deactivating his IS suit's PIC and going into a dive at full throttle. The lack of a PIC allowed him to dive much faster, but he was now constrained by inertia, meaning that it would be much harder for him to pull out of a dive, and that doing so would put his body under forces exceeding 12-Gs. Fortunately, Ichika had a simple way of countering this.

As he dove for the ground at just below the speed of sound, Ichika suddenly reactivated his PIC, allowing him to quickly flip the Infinite Arsenal vertically without putting any stress on his body, while his machine's thrusters and newly reactivated PIC brought his IS to a halt. As the dust plume he kicked up settled, Ichika saw the entire class staring at him.

"As you can see, a simple dive like that can easily allow you to disengage from unfavorable combat conditions, or it can allow you to quickly get the drop on your opponent. It is a technique that I have employed several times during the Mondo Grosso, where I would rapidly dive on my opponent without giving them a chance to truly react, while simultaneously increasing the power of my own attack." Chifuyu lectured. While she did so, Cecilia hovered over until she was standing beside Ichika.

"How did you do that? You managed to complete the dive almost half a second faster than I did, and our IS specifications are almost identical in terms of speed!" Cecilia asked.

"Oh, it's an easy trick. I just deactivated my PIC and then re-activated it right before I pulled out of the dive." Ichika replied.

"But that..." Cecilia trailed off.

"Yeah, I know about G-forces. That's why I am essentially restricted to going in a straight line while doing so, otherwise I could end up hurting myself pretty badly." Ichika replied.

"But how did you deactivate your PIC in the first place? I thought that systems like it were under the control of the IS Core Control System."

"Oh, that's easy. When I designed this IS, I simply added in the ability to temporarily assume control of various systems from the ISCCS. Then, I simply had to practice doing it at a much slower speed until I could finally manage it when going full throttle." Ichika explained. While this wasn't true, it allowed for him to explain away some of the things that Ori's presence allowed him to do.

"So you really did build your IS..." Cecilia began, and then paused.

"Can you look over mine then? To see if there's anything that can be improved of course?" Cecilia asked.

"Of course. Then again, if your IS was built by professionals, there's likely not much I will be able to do, but I guess I can spare some time to take a look." Ichika said.

"Thank you! I'll meet you near Maintenance Bay 6 right after class is over, if that's alright with you?" Cecilia asked.

"That sounds good. I'll meet you there." Ichika replied.

"It's a date then!" Wait what? Ichika's mind froze at that.

"Alcott! You can ask Orimura out later! Right now, I want you two back up in the air, but at low altitude this time around. You will be demonstrating simple evasive rolls." Chifuyu shouted out, and Ichika saw the rest of the girls present gasp. He also saw Houki's fists clench, the girl clearly enraged.

"Great. Now look what you've done!" Ichika complained, but Cecilia didn't hear him, as she was already taking off.

"Just what I need. A bunch of girls fighting over me." Ichika muttered to himself as he followed the English Representative Candidate into the sky.

"Orimura! As you seemed to be quite adept at dodging incoming fire during yesterday's duel, you will be the one demonstrating evasive maneuvers. Alcott, you will be shooting at him. Begin!" Chifuyu ordered as he slowed his climb and came to a hover several hundred meters away from Cecilia.

"Ready Ichika-san?" Cecilia asked, raising her rifle.

"Fire away." Ichika replied. The blonde haired girl in front of him took aim and fired, the blue streak of light flying through the space that was occupied by Ichika's body a second previously, but Ichika had already dodged out of the way.

"Again!" Chifuyu ordered after a few seconds of lecturing.

Ichika complied, and soon he was dodging and weaving out of a constant barrage of fire coming from Cecilia's IS.

"Alright, now switch. Ichika, you will now be shooting, Cecilia, you will now be evading. Begin!" Chifuyu said, and Ichika raised his own double barreled railgun.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Of course!" Cecilia replied, and Ichika fired a two shot burst at her. Soon, Cecilia was dancing through the air as he had been minutes before, dodging out of the way of railgun shells fired towards her at hypersonic speeds, her hyper-sensor temporarily slowing her perception of time and allowing her to clearly see the incoming projectiles.

"Alright, that is enough for today. Store away your IS units, both of you. As for the rest of you, you all will be practicing these maneuvers later this week, so I expect you all to remember this demonstration." Ichika gulped as Chifuyu spoke. Now it was time to land and face the music.

As soon as the IS had returned to IS-space, Ichika found himself confronted by a very angry Houki.

"What was that about Alcott asking you out?" Houki asked. Ichika could see that he was treading a very fine line here, as hesitating too long or giving an incorrect response would further enrage his childhood friend.

"Oh, she just asked me to look over her IS after class. It shouldn't take too long." Ichika said nonchalantly.

"Then I hope you don't mind me coming with you! After all, I would like to see you at work as well." Houki said, before turning away. Ichika sighed in relief. At least he could recognize the warnings given out by angry women and take steps to defuse the situation before he found himself on the receiving end of a Kendo stick... or worse.

* * *

Ichika held true to his word, and after class he and Cecilia made their way down to Maintenance Bay 6, with Houki meeting up with them along the way.

"What are you doing here?" Cecilia demanded as Houki followed them into the workshop.

"I simply wanted to see Ichika at work. Is there a problem with that, Alcott-san?" Houki asked. Cecilia simply growled before turning away.

The workshop itself only had one other occupant, a blue haired first year who sat at a computer terminal, a clearly unfinished IS beside her.

"Well, the facilities here are better than I expected. I'm pretty sure I can build my own IS in here given enough time." Ichika said after taking a look around.

"Really?" Cecilia asked.

"Of course. Now, deploy your IS so I can examine it." Ichika said, and Cecilia complied.

"Before I begin, can you tell me if you notice any problems with Blue Tears?" Ichika asked.

"Well, the only real one I can think of is that in order to control the drones I have to sacrifice both my mobility and other armaments." Cecilia said.

"I noticed that during the battle." Ichika replied.

"Wait, during the battle, I saw you moving and controlling your knife drones at the same time. How did you do that?" Cecilia asked.

"Oh, I simply let my IS unit's control system do the work. It's similar to how I cut out my PIC during class earlier today." Ichika replied.

"Then can you install that module into my IS?" Cecilia asked.

"I'm afraid not. Not only will it require some special parts to be flown over from WSI, the module itself closely interacts with the IS core, and will likely require a complete rebuild of your unit from the ground up to install." Cecilia's face fell at that.

"Of course, that is far from the only solution to your problem. One way I can think of is to simply program the drones to move independently while you are not focusing on them. You know how in most video games there is some form of AI programming that allows the computer to mimic a real player to a certain extent? You could install a similar program into the IS, and thus allow the drones to move independently from your control. The problem with that, however, is that a simple AI system like that is predictable, and will likely be inferior to your ability to control the drones." Ichika said.

"Is there any other solution?" Cecilia asked.

"Well, I believe that with a few modifications we can take an AI program and give it the capacity to 'learn' so to speak, allowing it to base its attack patterns on how you control the drones yourself. Essentially, as you use the drones, the AI will learn to think like you and eventually start to use them in a similar manner. Granted, it will take a while for the AI to learn, but eventually you will see results." Ichika replied.

"Then can you do that for me?" Cecilia asked.

"Well, it will take a while for me to get everything ready, but I believe I can have it ready in around a week." Ichika replied.

"That fast?" Cecilia asked.

"Well, it's not like I'm writing the program from scratch, I'm just adapting an existing one for your use." Ichika said. 'That, and I have a little friend with me that could really speed up the process.' Ichika thought, remembering Ori's capability with computer programming. She was a computer program herself, after all, so she could easily have the program done in the allotted amount of time.

"Alright. Is there anything else you want to do?" Cecilia asked.

"Well, I might as well examine your IS for any simple mechanical flaws that could be corrected." Ichika said, and began his examination. As expected, no other glaring flaws were found. The IS was built by professionals, after all.

"Alright, that should do it for today." Ichika said, putting down his examination equipment.

"Thank you Ichika!" Cecilia said, her IS vanishing in a burst of light.

"You're welcome." Ichika replied as he watched the British girl walk towards the workshop exit.

"Are you coming?" Cecilia paused by the exit. Ichika realized that she was leaving.

"Not yet, I would like to familiarize myself with the facilities here. I'll be out soon." Ichika replied. That was the blonde's cue to leave, and Houki followed her out, leaving Ichika alone in the room with the blue haired girl.

His curiosity getting the better of him, Ichika approached the quietly working girl, intending to investigate the IS. Said IS seemed to be a repainted Uchigane, although the IS was clearly modified. For starters, the arms were missing, as was the Katana that all Uchigane units were equipped with. Instead, the girl seemed to be altering the design for ranged combat, as was evidenced by the large racks of missiles present in its main wing array. A second pair of wings was also present, their ends seemingly altered to act as arms. Perhaps a method to extend its reach in melee combat.

"What are you doing here?" The blue haired girl asked quietly, not looking up from her computer screen.

"Just examining the IS. I have to say, you have chosen an unconventional arm design, if that is indeed what those wings are." Ichika gestured to the second, smaller pair of wings.

"Hmm." The girl grunted, not really listening.

"Out of curiosity though, why are you working on your IS? Shouldn't it have been complete upon delivery?" Ichika asked.

"Mmh." The girl didn't reply again, although Ichika noticed that she seemed angry now.

"Well, I won't bother you any more then. If you ever want my help though, don't hesitate to ask. I have a Class Four ISDL, so I've got plenty of experience working with IS suits." Ichika said.

"I won't need your help. I can do this on my own. I have a Class Three ISDL, so my skills are sufficient." The girl replied simply.

"Good luck then." Ichika replied, turning away to leave.

"Oh, before I forget, may I ask who you are?" Ichika asked.

"Kanzashi. Sarashiki Kanzashi." The girl replied simply.

"Thank you. I'm-"

"Orimura Ichika. I know." Kanzashi replied.

"Alright then, I won't take up any more of your time." Ichika said, and left the room. He recognized the girl's name from the dossiers that Maya had handed to him on his first day of class. She was the Japanese Representative Candidate, and was particularly unlucky in that her IS was designed by Kuromochi Machinery Development, only to be abandoned in favor of an order from the JSDF which requested for an IS that could surpass all other third generation units in the world at the time. Thus, development of Kanzashi's IS had been halted in favor of the JSDF's request, leaving Kanzashi without an IS by the time she came to the academy.

However, the Sarashiki family was none too happy about the current turn of events, and through a series of lawsuits managed to temporarily acquire the IS core that was originally supposed to be used in Kanzashi's IS, and now it seemed as if the girl had decided to retrofit one of the Academy's Uchigane trainers into a True IS for her own personal use.

Ichika's thoughts, however, were focused on something entirely different that was also present in the girl's dossier. A simple, two word phrase that ended the report. 'Potential Recruit'.

Ichika was so focused on these two words that he didn't notice a pair of crimson eyes watching his every move on his way to the Cafeteria.

* * *

"Congratulations on becoming Class Representative Orimura-kun!" Ichika was greeted by his entire class gathered around one table, with balloons and streamers indicating that the girls had planned this event out in advance.

"Congratulations!" The assembled girls chorused as Ichika sat down, Houki and Cecilia sitting down on either side of him.

"Congratulations, Ichika. I'm sure you will serve our class well in your position." Cecilia spoke in English, which seemed to infuriate Houki.

"Whatever she said. You better not fail in the coming tournament." Houki said in turn.

"Don't worry, I will do my best in the Interclass Tournament, and I can all but guarantee that Class 1-1 will be the winner." Ichika spoke. A camera flash punctuated his statement.

"Hello! This is the newspaper club! Do you mind us taking your picture Orimura-kun?" The girl holding a camera asked.

"Haven't you already taken one?" Ichika asked.

"Well, that was just to get your attention. Oh, and why don't you get in the picture as well Cecilia? Your duel with Ichika is still a really hot topic around the Academy!" The girl said.

"Really?" Cecilia asked.

"Of course! You two came in as bitter enemies, rivals who would rather fight to the death than sit so close together, but here you are now, together, as if you have been friends for your entire life! This will make for an amazing story!" The other girl replied. Ichika noticed Houki growling on his other side.

"I will get a copy of this picture, right?" Cecilia asked.

"Of course!"

"Then I don't see how this could hurt..." The blonde stood up, pulling Ichika up beside her. She leaned into him, his hand firmly clasped in hers. Ichika heard the girls around them sigh in equal parts admiration and envy.

"Alright, that's perfect! Smile for the camera!" The two of them smiled brightly.

"That's perfect! Alright, I'm taking the picture!" The girl's finger came down, and the camera flashed. At that moment, Ichika was sure that the rest of the girls in his class had somehow discovered a way to bend spacetime itself, because just as the camera flashed, he and Cecilia found themselves surrounded by the rest of Class 1-1. He saw Cecilia's features morph into an expression of outrage.

"What are you all doing here?" Cecilia shouted.

"Well... We couldn't let you get a head start on us now could we?" One of the girls explained. Cecilia's eye began to twitch.

* * *

Later that night, Ichika found himself reading over Kanzashi's Dossier one more time. The girl was quiet and introverted, practically the polar opposite of her older sister personality-wise. She also seemed to be somewhat detached from the rest of her family, and possessed a significant inferiority complex due to her constantly being overshadowed by her older sister. Her bad luck regarding her IS was then discussed, and then, at the bottom of the page, were those two words. 'Potential Recruit.'

Did that mean that the Organization wanted to recruit her? The girl's inferiority complex, coupled with her love of Anime heroes, might make her susceptible to the workings of an Organization recruiter, but why was that included in his dossier? He would need to ask Maya as soon as he had the chance.

"Ichika?" Houki's voice brought him back to reality.

"Yes Houki?" Ichika asked, closing the dossier.

"Where did you get that knife?" Houki gestured towards the weapon that now lay on the bedside table, Ichika having removed it from its concealed location on his leg before taking a shower.

"Oh, that?" Ichika internally cursed his carelessness.

"Yeah. Where did you get it, and why do you have it now?" Houki asked.

"You probably don't know about this, as you moved away before it happened, but I was kidnapped when I was ten years old. One of the people who rescued me later gave me this when he started training me." Chifuyu already knew exactly what Giorgi was teaching him, even if she didn't know why he was doing it, so Ichika assumed that he could tell Houki as well.

"Training you? In what?" Houki asked.

"He called it the Systema Spetsnaz. That was how I managed to match you in combat when we first... met in this room, despite me having quit Kendo after you left." Ichika said, referencing their fight on the first night of school.

"I see... Are you sure it's safe to keep that here?" Houki asked.

"Well, Chifuyu-nee knows about it, and it's not like that's the most dangerous thing I have on my person right now." Ichika said, indicating his IS.

Houki was silent for a while, before she spoke up again.

"I... I'm going to change into my sleepwear now, so can you please face the other direction?" Houki said.

"Alright." Ichika replied simply as he turned around. He heard Houki slide a divider into place. Then, he heard the soft rustling of her undressing.

"Well this is awkward..." He muttered, more to himself than to his roommate. About a minute passed before Ichika heard the divider sliding back, Houki then indicating that he could look. He turned around again and saw Houki wearing a pink yukata.

"Is that a new Obi?" Ichika asked after taking in his childhood friend's appearance.

"You noticed? You really are perceptive..." Houki said, her voice friendly and holding none of her usual grouchiness.

"I'm with you every day. How could I not notice?" Ichika said.

"Of course, that's it..." Houki trailed off as she sat down on her bed. "Alright, let's get some sleep now." Houki said, turning out the light before lying down on her bed. The room was silent for a while, before Houki spoke again.

"Ichika... earlier when I asked about the knife, you said you were kidnapped..." Houki said.

"Oh, yeah. It was a long time ago though." Ichika replied.

"Do you know who did it?" His roommate asked.

"Not really, I just know that they didn't want Chifuyu-nee to win the second Mondo Grosso." Ichika replied.

"I see..."

"Don't worry, they didn't do anything really bad to me, and the Japanese Government sent troops to rescue me before I was gone for too long."

"I see then."

"Is there anything else you want to ask me?"

"Not really... Goodnight Ichika."

"Goodnight Houki."

With those words, the two roommates drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright, this chapter was my first real attempt at writing the interactions between Ichika and the girls, so if you notice any problems please let me know. I also featured Cecilia quite a bit in this chapter, as I felt that she was somewhat of an underdeveloped character in Canon. I mean, her story essentially boils down to 'She's rich and has daddy issues, so she hates men in general, but Ichika beat her so now she doesn't and has fallen in love with him instead." Thus, I wanted to make Cecilia a little more than the token competitor and comic relief source that she is in Canon and make her into a fully fleshed out character in her own right.**

 **I also introduced Kanzashi early on, although she didn't make much of an appearance yet. Canonically, she shouldn't be at IS academy yet, but since Ichika has the Infinite Arsenal in this fic, KMD doesn't have to rush the Byakushiki into production at the expense of her own IS. However, I do like how she had to design her own IS in canon, so I introduced the JSDF's request as a way to justify her doing so again, although I also allowed for her to get to school immediately instead of waiting for six months before attending as she did in canon because I want to start developing her and Tatenashi early on. I have plans for them, you see!**

 **Anyway, Read, Review, and don't hesitate to correct me on any mistakes that I have made. Until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm glad all you readers are enjoying the story. Now, before I start rambling, on with the show!**

 **Chapter 6**

The inside of the cavernous room was dark, lit only by sparsely placed floodlights. In the center of the room, a large, black machine that vaguely resembled an IS was being loaded into a large shipping container. Its creator, a tall, golden haired man with crimson eyes, watched impassively as the Golem Prototype was slowly folded into a more compact configuration for easier storage.

"Dr. Meusel, the preparations are complete. Is there anything else you wish to do with the Golem, sir?" A young man, barely out of his teens, reported somewhat nervously.

"Why should I? It is but a prototype that has already outlived its usefulness to me. Its only purpose now is to be destroyed in the most effective way possible." Dr. Aaron Meusel replied dismissively.

"Then shall we finish loading it?" The tech replied.

"Of course!" The doctor shouted, and his subordinate scurried away, relaying his orders to the rest of the team.

Behind the red eyed doctor, the room's entrance swung open and a woman entered. Although she didn't look the part, Aaron knew that the woman was easily over forty years old.

"So, how is life Ori?" The doctor asked.

"Do not call me that. You will address me by my full name and rank." The tall, black haired woman replied as she stepped into the light beside the doctor. Even at her age, her body could easily be considered beautiful, although the beauty was marred by a long, ragged scar that began up above her right ear and extended all the way down her face, cutting clean through her right eye, which was now covered by a simple black patch. Aaron knew that the scar did not stop at her face though, and continued across her neck before finally ending down at her left hip.

"But Sub-Commander Orimura Reikou is quite a mouthful." The doctor replied.

"Hmph. I assume the package is ready for deployment?" Reikou asked.

"Of course."

"Will it perform according to your specifications?"

"I know it will, although I really do not expect much of it. Given how simple the control system is, I wouldn't be surprised if a semi-competent IS trainee would be able to defeat it without a problem. Not that I mind its destruction, of course. The Golem Mk. I's will surpass it in every possible manner, and they are able to be mass produced, unlike this primitive pile of scrap."

"I am not surprised if it does end up defeated by a semi-competent IS trainee, given where it is being deployed." The doctor laughed at that.

"Its only purpose is to test the strength of the Academy's defenses. The fact that you will be using it for your little vendetta is just a bonus." Reikou's face twisted into a scowl at Aaron's words.

"Do not remind me of my mistake, Meusel. I only keep you around because of your usefulness in the Golem project."

"Oh? Are you sure that it isn't out of love for your late sister?"

"What you and my sister got up to in your spare time outside of the lab is none of my concern, your two daughters even less so. No, you are only alive right now because both myself and the Master have our uses for you."

"You wound me, Ori! Oh, and by the way, how is my eldest daughter? I heard that you were in Japan just a few months ago, and that is where little Squall is stationed, and she never writes! It's almost as if she doesn't care for her poor father!"

"Operative Squall has proven her worth to the Organization by launching a successful attack on the Sarashiki family two years ago. I heard that the only survivors of the main family were the two daughters, one of whom was absent, while the other escaped thanks to the sacrifice of her parents."

"Aww, looks like my little daughter is all grown up! It seems as if it was only yesterday that she was little more than a fetus in a test tube under my instruments!" This statement caused Reiko to shudder slightly. Unlike her sister, she had standards, after all.

"Of course, the Sarashiki family is small fry compared to some of our potential opponents. After all, their organization has a face that we can target." Reiko said.

"Ah yes, 'Them'. A mysterious organization that has agents practically everywhere, and has already attacked and eliminated several of our cells around the globe, leaving no evidence behind save for the stripped and shot up bases. If I didn't know any better, I would say that you were talking about the Illuminati."

"Hmph. You know that They are the reason we are rushing the Golems into production. It is because of Them that you still have your job."

"I understand. Now, I believe the goods are ready for transport. I trust you will take care of my daughter's delayed birthday present?" Aaron spoke.

"I will deliver it safely, although whether Operative Squall gets to set eyes upon it depends on the time we make. If it takes too long to transport it, we might simply launch it while we are en route."

"Of course, of course. Just get that ugly thing out of my sight. I have its more elegant brethren to work on, after all!" Reikou's only response was a grunt before she walked out towards the shipping container, the people surrounding it scurrying fearfully out of her path. Soon, the crate was gone, being lifted up towards the submarine pens up near the roof of the underwater complex that was the Phantom Task HQ. By the time the crate was loaded into a supply submarine, however, the scientist that had crafted the Golem within was already working on his next project.

* * *

The next day Ichika found himself walking to class when he caught a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye. However, when he turned to face it, he saw nothing. Deciding to play it safe, he reached down, pretending to tie his shoe while he was in fact slipping his sheathed knife into his sleeve. Soon, he stood up, catching another flash of blue as he did so, but he pretended to ignore it this time around, and simply headed back to his classroom.

Entering Classroom 1-1, Ichika heard the students within discussing the upcoming tournament.

"Say, did you know that the representative for Class 2 was changed?" One of the girls asked Ichika as he entered.

"Yeah, I heard that she was replaced by a new transfer student." Another girl commented.

"A transfer student? Already?" Ichika asked.

"Yeah, I heard that she transferred in from China."

"That might mean that she is a Representative Candidate. Her Personal IS likely needed some final adjustments, hence the delay."

"Oh? Maybe she has become aware of my existence and has decided to transfer in to pay homage." Cecilia said.

"Does anyone know who she is?" Ichika asked.

"Hmm, not really... but if she is really a representative candidate then she will likely be a powerful opponent." One of the girls around him replied.

"That is correct." A familiar voice called out from the room's entrance, causing everyone to turn towards the speaker.

"The Class Representative of Class 2 is indeed the Chinese Representative Candidate. You will not have an easy win." The girl said.

"Rin? Is that you?" Ichika asked the Chinese girl.

"Of course! My name is Huang Lingyin, and I am the Representative Candidate of China! Today, I am here to declare war!" Rin declared, causing whispers to break out around the classroom.

"Ichika? Who is this?" Cecilia turned to him.

"Rin! That cool act really doesn't suit you!" Ichika replied.

"What? Why do you say that?" Rin exclaimed, but the conversation was cut short by a familiar fist coming down on top of the twin tailed girl's head.

"Oww..." Rin moaned, before turning around. "What was that... for..." She trailed off as she saw the woman standing behind her.

"It is now time for a short homeroom period." Chifuyu announced as she entered the room.

"Chifuyu-san..." Rin said timidly.

"It's Orimura-sensei. Go back to class, you are being a bother." Chifuyu said as she walked past.

"S-Sorry..." Rin stuttered out before turning to the class.

"Don't you dare run away Ichika! I will come back for you!" Rin said before turning and heading back to her own room.

"Well... this tournament just got interesting." Ichika said simply.

* * *

After class, Ichika found himself in one of the training arenas, wondering exactly how Cecilia and Houki had managed to coerce him into training with them. He and Cecilia had both deployed their respective IS suits, while Houki had clambered into one of the Academy's Uchigane suits, and was now arguing with Cecilia about who would be training Ichika.

"Well then Ichika, let us begin!" Houki said, drawing her sword.

"Alright." Ichika replied simply, turning to face her.

"Wait a moment! The one who will be training Ichika is me!" Cecilia said as she raised her rifle.

"Wait what?" Ichika asked.

"Prepare yourself Ichika!" Houki said, igniting her Uchigane's thrusters and charging,

"Your opponent will be me!" Cecilia declared, and opened fire. It appeared that Ichika would have two opponents to contend with.

"Wait, menage a trois? Not that I mind, but..." Whatever Ichika was going to say was lost as he dodged out of the way of an enraged Houki's opening strike.

The two girls were clearly upset with him from earlier, although he honestly couldn't see why. After all, he had simply been catching up with Rin over lunch, and mentioned that he had gone over to her house for dinner... Then it hit him, and he groaned, just as he dodged out of the way of Houki's second strike, putting her between him and Cecilia. The English Representative promptly attempted to fire over Houki's shoulder at him, but the girl's constant movements put her in Cecilia's line of fire, causing her to get hit in the back.

"Watch it!" Houki called out, before a pair of knife missiles materialized and streaked towards her,

"What do you mean? You were in my line of fire! It's not my fault you got hit!" Cecilia screamed, while another two knife missiles accelerated towards her.

"It's not my fault you can't aim!" Houki replied as she tried and failed at evading the incoming drones. In response, Cecilia shot at her, striking her directly on the chest.

"See? I can aim perfectly fine!"

"Why you...!" Houki charged at the blonde, completely forgetting about her initial opponent. Ichika simply sighed and sat back, leaning his IS against the arena wall.

* * *

"So what did you two learn today?" Ichika asked as he stood over the other two girls, who lay exhausted on the ground. The two had fought each other to a standstill in their IS suits until their ADS systems had both triggered, either as a result of their actions or from Ichika taking occasional potshots. Then Cecilia had stored away her IS, while Houki quickly dismounted hers, and the two continued their catfight on the ground.

"Let's just call it a day for now..." Cecilia panted from where she lay.

"Yeah..." Houki replied, equally exhausted.

"I guess I'll see you later then!" Ichika replied cheerfully as he walked away from where the two girls lay.

"Oh, and Houki? Since you don't seem to be getting up any time soon, I will be using the shower first today. Is that alright?" Ichika asked.

"Fine..." Houki panted.

Ichika quickly changed in the locker room, and was about to exit when he was met by Rin, the girl offering him both compliments and a sports drink.

"Congratulations Ichika! Two on one and you left them both exhausted on the ground!" Rin didn't seem to notice the double entendre.

"Thanks Rin." Ichika replied as he sat down, the girl sitting beside him.

"We're finally all alone together..." Rin broke the silence between them.

"It looks like it." Ichika said, a faint feeling of dread building up inside of him.

"Were you lonely after I left, Ichika?" Rin asked.

"Well... I did miss you, even though I still had to spend most of my time working." Ichika said, causing Rin to frown.

"I know... but now that we're both here, we can start spending time together like we used to!" Rin said.

"I do hope that we can be friends again." Ichika sighed, remembering how he and Rin had started to drift apart once he had started spending most of his time with the Organization.

"I hope so too... Say, do you remember the promise we made?" Rin asked.

"The one where you said that if you got better at cooking, then I would eat your sweet and sour pork everyday?" Ichika said absentmindedly, before his mind froze.

"Oh no..." He muttered, cursing his blockheadedness as a child. Back then, he had interpreted the promise as simply meaning free food, but now...

"What is it Ichika?"

"Well, I have to go now. I need to use the shower in my room before Houki arrives." Ichika said.

"Showering? Houki? What do you mean? What do they have to do with each other?" Rin demanded.

"Well, she is my roommate, so we use the same shower, although at different times. Honestly, I'm glad that it's her there and not a complete stranger, otherwise it would be a lot more uncomfortable for me." Ichika said, not really thinking about what he was saying, as he was more focused on getting out of the room before Rin insisted that he make good on his promise.

"So it's all fine if it's a childhood friend?" Rin said.

"Yeah... I need to go now though, before Houki comes up and sees that I haven't started my shower yet." Ichika said, and left the room.

* * *

"So anyway, since we're both Ichika's childhood friends, will you switch rooms with me?" Rin spoke from the entryway of room 1025 several hours later.

"Are you kidding me? Why would I?" Houki demanded.

"Well, you wouldn't want to be sleeping in the same room as a man now would you, Shinonono-san?" Rin asked.

"Hmph. I am perfectly fine with my current sleeping arrangements. Also, this is strictly between me and Ichika!"

"It's fine! After all, I'm also his childhood friend! Wouldn't you agree, Ichika?"

"Don't bring me into this!" Ichika shouted.

"Anyway, I am not switching rooms with you, and that is final!" Houki declared, and Rin was silent for a moment.

"Say, Ichika, do you remember the promise you made me? The one you remembered earlier today?" Rin said, causing Ichika to freeze.

"Rin... I didn't know what the promise meant when I made it!" He replied.

"But you still made it, didn't you? So I believe that it is time for you to keep it!" Rin said, walking up to him.

"Oaths made before age ten don't work like that! It's common sense!" Ichika said, taking a page from Houki's book.

"You still promised Ichika!"

"But I thought you were just offering to cook for me!" That caused Rin's face to contort in rage, and Ichika didn't have time to dodge the incoming slap.

"You're the worst! Guys who don't keep the promises they make can't be considered men! Get bitten by a dog and die, idiot!" With those words, Rin stormed out of the room. Just before exiting, she turned and spoke once more.

"You better be ready at the inter-class tournament! I will make you keep your promise!" Then, Rin slammed the door shut, leaving Ichika alone with Houki.

Ichika noticed that Houki was also glaring at him.

"Get kicked by a horse and die, Ichika!" Houki said, before turning away.

* * *

Several days passed before the tournament began, and Ichika noticed that he would be fighting Rin right off the bat in the first match. As Ichika made his way to the arena however, his phone rang. He saw that it was Maya calling him, and quickly ducked into a nearby bathroom. Seeing that he was alone, he picked up.

"Ichika, we have incoming." The green haired teacher spoke.

"What? What do you mean by that?" Ichika asked.

"Radar has just detected an IS of unknown design being launched from a submarine in the Pacific Ocean about two hundred miles from the coast of Japan. It is headed for IS academy, and is painted in Phantom Task colors. ETA is in around ten minutes."

"Just one IS?" Ichika asked.

"Yes. It is likely a probing attack meant to test the Academy's defenses. I want you to delay your match with Huang Lingyin until the unknown IS arrives, and then engage it should the initial defenses fail to stop it."

"Understood. Do we have any other information on the unknown IS?"

"No. We do not have visual, nor do we have anything capable of intercepting it in time."

"What about the submarine that launched it?"

"We have fighters inbound towards its last known location armed with anti-submarine warheads and sonar buoys, but we will likely not be there in time. However, we have more than enough range capability on our fighters to search the area until we find them."

"I see then. I will extend my battle with Rin until the IS arrives." Ichika said.

"Good luck." Maya said simply before hanging up.

With those words, Ichika exited the bathroom and went to the Arena deployment tunnel. At the entrance, he saw Rin already waiting for him out in the arena, her IS, the ShenLong deployed around her.

He deployed his own IS, and promptly contacted Ori.

"Ori, you know what to do. Swap out the railgun for the twin barreled plasma gun we based off of Cecilia's weapon. Then swap out the FEL for the railgun, we won't be needing it for dealing with Rin." Ichika ordered, and the AI complied, the requested modifications being quickly made. Cecilia gasped as she saw his new arm mounted weapon.

"Hey, that's my rifle!" She exclaimed.

"I based it off of yours, so it should bear quite the resemblance. My railgun was somewhat lacking in stopping power, so I decided on a replacement." Ichika said as he prepared to launch.

"Good luck, Ichika." Houki simply spoke.

"You're using my weapons, so there is no way you can lose!" Cecilia cheered.

"Thank you." Ichika replied, before boosting into the arena. Enemy ETA: Seven minutes.

"Both of you, please move to your starting positions." The announcer spoke.

"If you apologize now, I won't make it as painful on you!" Rin taunted as she flew up.

"Ori, start analysis of one of those drones above her shoulder. They contain her impact cannons." Ichika said privately, before turning on his speaker.

"There is no need to hold back." Ichika said simply, weapons trained on target.

"Let me warn you now that the Absolute Defense is not perfect. A strong enough or strange enough attack can and will get through it." Rin warned.

"I know that. Let us begin." Ichika said, and the announcer mirrored his words.

At that, Rin drew a large scimitar from her back, the weapon glowing red as energy coursed through it. Ichika, however, was already firing, aiming for the Impact Cannon that was not being analysed. However, ShenLong was clearly a much more agile IS than Blue Tears, and Rin managed to either avoid or deflect the incoming barrage. However, Ichika kept firing, forcing Rin on the defensive with superior ranged firepower.

However, Rin was capable of returning fire a well, and an invisible projectile slammed into Ichika's shield, causing it to slowly tick down. It was followed closely by another, but by then Ichika had deployed a hexagonal shield from the emitter on his wrist, and watched the barrier ripple as Rin's shots were absorbed. While his shield drones couldn't detect the incoming fire, he could easily judge its trajectory.

"Analysis complete. Estimated Fabrication Time: Five Minutes." Ori reported.

"What's the enemy ETA?" Ichika asked.

"Four minutes and twenty two seconds." Ori replied.

"Then get building. I want the impact cannon mounted on a shield drone chassis." Ichika said.

"Understood. It will be done in five minutes and thirty seconds."

"Come closer Ichika! Or are you scared?" Rin said as she continued to weave through his barrage, taking an occasional hit, but surviving. Ichika did not reply though, instead he simply intensified his barrage.

* * *

"Why isn't he deploying drones like he did against me?" Cecilia asked as she watched the battle.

"ShenLong is a melee oriented IS, and is thus much less vulnerable to knife drones than your own unit, Miss Alcott." Chifuyu replied as she watched the match. The black haired woman's eyes were focused on the railgun on her brother's shoulder, the weapon's barrels starting to glow red from continuous fire.

Suddenly, the weapon stopped shooting, and a cloud of vapor surrounded it as the railgun's cooling systems engaged. The barrage that had been flying at his opponent thinned, and Rin saw her chance. Where she had previously been simply dodging and returning fire, she was now steadily closing with Ichika, her two blades spinning and deflecting any shots that would have otherwise hit her. Her blade met Ichika's glowing shield, but while Ichika's IS was not damaged, it still sent him flying back towards the wall of the arena. Not once did he stop shooting though, and soon the railgun on his shoulder opened up once more, meaning that Rin had to break off the pursuit as the air filled with slugs and jets of plasma.

* * *

"Enemy ETA: Two Minutes. One of our pickets has gotten a brief visual, and sent the information." An image opened up in front of Ichika's eyes, showing a black IS with oversized arms and a fully armored pilot.

"What do you think?" Ichika asked as he continued to fire at Rin, simultaneously dodging out of an invisible barrage from her impact cannons.

"It seems to have next to no melee ability, and is armed exclusively for ranged combat. However... it looks strange, almost like one of the early first-gen IS units instead of a more modern one." Ori replied.

"Well then, I guess we will just have to wait and see." Ichika said simply, as he continued to fire.

"Damn it Ichika! Let me get closer so I can hit you with my sword!" Rin screamed in frustration a minute later as he kept firing at her with no sign of letting up.

"Not happening!" Ichika called back.

"Grr...!" Rin growled. Her shield had already been whittled down to less than half of what it was before the match started.

"Enemy ETA: Ten seconds! I have a visual!" Ori exclaimed a minute later, and then, with a thunderous explosion, the dome over the Arena was shattered, and a huge crater formed in the arena floor as something large and heavy impacted it.

"The match is cancelled! Orimura! Huang! Retreat at once!" Chifuyu called out over the loudspeakers, while blast shutters sealed away the stands, protecting the audience.

"Ichika! The match is over! We have to get out of here!" Rin called out, just as the smoke began to clear, and an ominous tone coming from his helmet speakers indicated that something had locked on to him.

"Ichika! Are you listening to me? You have to get out of here, I'll cover you!" Rin shouted.

"Rin! Get back!" Ichika shouted, just as a bright pink particle beam emanated from the smoke cloud, landing a direct hit on the Chinese Representative, and causing her IS to fall out of the sky, its ADS rendering it inoperable.

"Damn! Ori, launch drones! Take that thing out before it can fire again!"

"Will do!" Ori replied, and nearly fifty knife missiles and twice as many explosive drones appeared around Ichika, and accelerated into the smoke cloud. A second pink beam swept many out of the air, but the sound of explosions indicated the suicide drones reaching their target.

The blasts caused the smoke to clear, revealing a misshapen black IS, its pilot fully encased in armor. Five glowing red lights on its head indicated some form of sensory device, which even now stared straight at Ichika, the black IS lumbering around and turning to face him.

"Impact cannon drone complete. Deploying." The drone blossomed into realspace above Ichika's shoulder, just as Ichika opened fire on the IS with his other weapons.

"Ichika! What are you doing? You were ordered to leave the Arena!" Chifuyu shouted, but he ignored her, too focused on his opponent.

"Ichika! The IS is not manned! It's being controlled by an AI!" Ori exclaimed.

"What do you mean? There's clearly someone piloting it!" Ichika said as he blazed away, rolling out of the path of another particle beam.

"No, there isn't! There is definitely an AI in control of the thing. Just look at how it moves!" Ori said, and Ichika saw what she meant.

"Ichika! Get out of there!" He heard Cecilia cry out over the intercom. He ignored her.

That was when his opponent rose awkwardly into the air, being propelled upward by a pair of thrusters on its back.

"Who the hell designed that thing?" Ichika wondered to himself as it began firing off a rapid storm of tiny beams at him.

"Ichika! Can you hear me?" Ichika ignored Houki's voice as well, just as his remaining knife missiles caught the IS from behind, skipping off its shields and causing it to turn around, blasting away at the new threats and allowing Ichika to fire another barrage directly into its exposed back.

* * *

"Orimura-sensei! Please! Give me IS usage permission! I can go out and help him!" Cecilia begged as she watched Ichika's duel on the screen in front of her.

"I would love to do so, but that IS has done something. All gates into the arena are closed, as are all the exits. You couldn't reach him even with your IS." Chifuyu replied, her fists clenched as she watched her brother dodge another incoming blast before landing several hits on his slower opponent.

"Then call the government! Ask them for help!"

"By the time the JSDF mobilizes, the fight would already be over, one way or another. Plus, we cannot get a message through. The IS has jammed all incoming and outgoing signals from the IS academy."

"So nothing can get in or out?"

"Exactly."

That was when a beam of pink energy struck Ichika directly in the chest, easily halving his remaining shields.

* * *

"Damn, that was too close. Ori, I forgot to tell you this earlier, but I-"

"I love you too Ichika! No matter what happens, I will always stay by your side!" Ori replied dramatically, holographic tears on her avatar's face.

"No, nothing like that! Just disable the tournament limiters on my IS." Ichika said.

"Oh... alright." The AI said, and did as she was asked. With that, the Infinite Arsenal's ADS was disabled, and the power allocated to it was now funneled into the shields, which started regenerating at a steady rate.

"Thanks Ori. Now, let's send this thing back to the scrap heap where it belongs!" Ichika said, and he opened fire once more. Five cannons of three different types blazed away at the black IS, while a swarm of drones, both equipped with knives and explosives, materialized once more around him. He dodged out of the way of the black machine's return fire, and watched his explosive drones impact the enemy unit, one of the blasts sending sparks flying up from the unit's shoulder. The enemy shield was down.

Knife missiles shot forward, lacerating the hostile IS, one of them clipping the humanoid figure in the unit's center and causing a spray of scarlet liquid to fountain from the wound.

"What the hell?" Ichika muttered as he hovered over to the now disabled IS, shooting one of its arms when it twitched at him. A trickle of scarlet liquid poured from the newly created bullet hole as well.

"Ori, can you use your knife missiles to pry off the pilot's armor?" Ichika asked.

"Will do." One of the hovering knife missiles slowly approached the IS, cutting open and removing the pilot armor with surgical precision.

He heard footsteps around him, but he ignored them, too focused on removing his opponent's armor, and when he did... he nearly vomited as he saw the face of his opponent.

It was a grotesque parody of a human being, its features sunken and emaciated, yet horribly bloated in other areas. Hundreds of tubes and wires pierced its skin, binding it directly to the IS itself. As light hit its face for the first time, the thing within began to scream.

"What is that?" Houki's horrified voice asked as she caught sight of Ichika's enemy.

"Something that shouldn't exist." Ichika replied simply as he lowered his plasma rifle at the monster's face. A single burst of blue silenced the creature forever.

"Ichika..." Cecilia murmured as she landed, her IS in active form.

"What was that thing?" Rin asked as she walked up to the crater in which the now dead IS lay.

"As I told Houki, it is something that shouldn't exist." Ichika replied as he continued to stare at his enemy's body, his sensor suite analyzing as much of the IS as possible.

"Who could have done this?" Cecilia asked.

"That is none of your concern." Chifuyu's voice rang out as she walked up to the group. "The danger has passed. You all are to return to your dormitories. Class is cancelled for the rest of the day. Ichika, consider yourself to have won the match."

"What will be done with this... thing?" Ichika asked.

"That is none of your concern. You are not to investigate this event any further. Should you do so, you can and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and by then expulsion from IS academy will be the least of your worries." Chifuyu replied.

"Maya. Get over here and prepare this... abomination for transport. You know what to do." At Chifuyu's orders, Maya flew over, clad in a Raphael Revive trainer. As she passed Ichika, he saw a message appear on his visor.

'Meet me tomorrow at 2:00 PM. You know the place.' The message read. That was the last thing Ichika saw before he stored away his IS and walked out of the arena.

Outside the arena, a blue haired, crimson eyed girl stood atop the tallest tower in the academy, clad in her IS, watching as the black Golem was moved out of the arena, while her machine kept track of the pilot that defeated it.

"Orimura Ichika... first you meet my sister, and then you effortlessly deal with a Phantom Task golem... You are an interesting one, aren't you? Then again, you are from Grandmother's family, so that is a given. I will enjoy meeting you!" With those words, Sarashiki Tatenashi stored away her IS and walked back into the IS academy, her vigil concluded.

* * *

"Hmph." The scarred woman watched as the young boy aimed his weapon at the camera, a split second before the screen erupted into static.

"Is that him?" A younger voice asked.

"Do not speak without permission, M." The woman spat, before continuing. "Yes, that is indeed him. That is indeed your... brother, and my one, greatest mistake." Reikou said, her voice laced with hatred.

M stayed silent as she watched her mother silently seethe.

"I have told you this tale a thousand times already, and I will tell it to you again, M. After all, while you are almost as much of a failure as he is, you still possess the capability to redeem yourself in my eyes."

"I will fulfill my purpose, mother." M spoke, and Reikou slapped her across the face.

"Do not call me mother. You lost that right when you were born imperfect."

"I understand."

"You had better. Now, I am sure that you already know this, but I shall tell you anyway. The Orimura family is the very embodiment of perfection, and it is our destiny to eventually control this world, and all the imperfect beings upon it. When we could no longer breed ourselves to be better naturally, we took our very genes and modified them, making us better than any ordinary human could ever hope for. Your sister, Chifuyu, was the perfect daughter. She was perfection incarnate, surpassing my own capabilities at her age in every possible way. That continued until I made the mistake of having _Him!_ As soon as he was born, I knew something was wrong, and three days later, I realized that not a single one of our genetic enhancements had taken hold in him. My son was nothing more than ordinary! But as I prepared to erase him like the mistake he was, my daughter, my perfect daughter, raised her blade against me. She gave me this scar, and then, knowing that she could not match me even in my wounded state, she ran."

"There has only been one other case of an Orimura turning their back on the family and its goal, and that was when Orimura Tatenashi left us all those years ago and joined the Sarashiki family to oppose us. Your older sister deserted us for your mistake of a twin brother, leaving only you behind like the trash you are. You see, you were not born perfect either, with only the most basic enhancements taking hold in you, Madoka. A weakling like you has no place in our family. Even the twisted clone that Meusel had grown for that Golem is worth more than you! The only way for you to prove yourself an Orimura is to finish what I started, and erase the mistake that is my son and the daughter that has turned against us."

"I understand this." Madoka spoke quietly.

"I hope you do, because you now have a chance to be of use to me. Tomorrow, we will be deploying you off the coast of Japan. If she cares enough about you, then Operative Squall will pick you up. Should she do so, you will then be placed under her command. Do you understand, M?"

"I do." Madoka replied, hiding her anger with practiced ease. She had never liked Squall when they had met before, the crimson eyed woman taking a particular liking to tormenting her, and now she would be under her command. However, this deployment would be worth the pain. After all, being stationed in Japan meant that she was one step closer to proving herself.

"Sub-commander! I'm picking up several aircraft overhead. Unknown model and nationality!" One of the bridge techs suddenly reported.

"What the-" Whatever his partner was about to say was cut off as several missiles streaked down towards the water.

"We're under attack!"

"How the hell did they find us? Our sub is undetectable by sonar!"

"Who are they?"

"Is it Them?"

The bridge suddenly became a hive of activity as the crew began to chatter.

"Dive! If we can get deep enough, they won't be able to hit us!" Reikou ordered, and the bridge was silenced, at least until a nearby detonation rocked the ship.

"Outer pressure shell is breached! Flooding reported in Delta and Iota sections!"

Another detonation.

"Port side engine is gone! That missile took it off!"

The submarine shook again, and the lights flickered before cutting off entirely, casting the bridge into darkness lit only by the light of computer screens..

"Power cables cut! Switching to battery power!"

"Anti-air missiles can't get a lock! We can't shoot back!"

"Who the hell are these people?"

A panicked air began to fill the bridge, just as another detonation shook the sub.

"Beta section is flooding fast! One more hit like that and we're done for!"

"Quiet, all of you! Navigator, are there any islands nearby?" Reikou asked as another detonation shook the vessel. Fortunately, it did not to any real damage.

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Set a course for it. We'll run aground in the shallows and wait for rescue. Hopefully it will come before an enemy relief force." The scarred woman ordered.

"It will be done." The navigator replied, and the submarine changed course, another missile detonating in its previous path.

* * *

"Come in Command, this is Falcata Leader. The enemy sub is running for the island. What are our orders, over?" The fighter spoke into the radio.

"Your flight has only spent a quarter of its ordinance, You are to continue your attack. Once ordinance is exhausted, you are to continue pursuit of the target. Claymore and Naginata flights are inbound to your location to provide additional fire support, while Tanto and Kris flights will provide air cover. Those are your orders, over."

"Orders received and understood. Over and out." The pilot called out, before banking around and going in for another attack run, his wingman right behind him. Falcata-3 and Falcata-4 circled overhead, ready to attack as well.

"To the left a bit... perfect... fire... NOW!" The voice of his fighter's AI called out, guiding him to the target. After all, while the missiles themselves couldn't get a lock, the AI was capable of manually aiming them by itself.

"Thank you David." The pilot spoke as he released the last of his payload, four guided anti-submarine bombs falling towards the water below. Then, a few seconds later, four simultaneous detonations occurred beneath the waves as the ordinance went off. At the same time, his wingman dropped the remainder of his own ordinance. Weapons spent, the two fighters pulled up, while Falcata-3 and Falcata-4 descended, intending to start their own attack runs.

* * *

"Starboard engine disabled! We're sitting ducks out here!" The report came up after the second repeated set of detonations.

"Two more fighters are starting their attack runs! One more hit and we're done for!"

"QUIET! You there, give me control of the SAMs." Reikou shouted, and the person she indicated moved out of their seat.

Seconds later, the submarine shuddered as a volley of missiles left their launch tubes. While the weapons themselves couldn't get a lock, their shooter had assumed manual control, and with a satisfied smile on her face, the woman detonated the warheads remotely, causing the incoming fighters to disappear in a cloud of fire and smoke. The crewmen seemed ready to start cheering... until two fighters emerged from the cloud, a faint but visible glimmer around them indicating that the missiles had been absorbed by energy shields.

"What the hell... not even the Americans have managed to fit shield generators on their fighters!" One of the crewmen said, the hope leaving his eyes.

"Shut up, all of you! We still have one engine left. Comms officer, send out a distress signal to all nearby Phantom Task cells."

The submarine shuddered again as four more bombs went off around it.

"Flooding in all sections! The Integrity Fields are barely holding this boat together!" One of the crewmen shouted.

"SAM pods are offline. We are unarmed." Reikou reported, standing up from her seat. "Captain, can we make it to the shallows?" The woman asked.

"I believe we can, but we'll break up if we try and run aground."

"Sub-commander, I've gotten a response from Sakura Cell. They've launched IS units to clear the air above us, and a Hunter class sub is coming to pick us up. IS unit ETA is 20 minutes, while the submarine will be here in an hour." The comms officer reported.

Another set of detonations shook the vessel.

"We're breaking up! Half our rear is gone! All engines disabled!" The groaning of steel underscored the man's message.

"We're in the shallows! What are your orders?" The captain spoke.

"Run aground, as planned."

"But the ship-"

"The ship is already a lost cause. This bridge is the only area still intact and filled with air. With luck, this will convince the enemy aircraft to leave us alone." Reikou spoke, and the captain nodded. With a loud rumble, the submarine hit the sea floor, steel groaning as the vessel shattered into several pieces. Soon, the submarine, or what was left of it, came to a halt.

"Now we wait." Reikou spoke to the other occupants of the now pitch black room. All was silent then, with the only noise being the steady 'Drip... Drip... Drip...' of water leaking into the sealed off Bridge.

* * *

"Radar has picked up hostile IS units inbound. All flights are to vacate the area and return to base via standard route. Command out." Those orders brought a smile to Falcata-3's face.

"Come on boys, we're heading home. Set all remaining ordinance to Mine mode and drop it around the wreck." The voice of Falcata leader crackled over the radio, and the pilot's smile turned predatory.

"Did you hear that Sally? Set our ordinance to proximity fuse already so that we can get out of here!"

"It's done!" The cheerful voice of his plane's AI rang out a second later.

"Bombs away then." The plane shuddered slightly as it grew several tons lighter. All around him, the remaining ordinance carrying planes did the same, their bombs falling into the water around the submarine wreck. Then, as one, the fighters streaked away to the south. After a few hours of travel, they would circle around and eventually return to base. Their mission had been accomplished.

* * *

"What kind of a twisted mind could imagine something like this, much less build it?" Maya spoke as looked at the results of the 'autopsy' that she had performed on the drone.

"What really interests me is the core. It is not registered." Chifuyu spoke.

"But that is impossible! IS cores contain hundreds of different failsafes to prevent copying! Just look what happened when the Chinese tried to do it!" Maya exclaimed.

"All those failsafes are useless if they are turned off." Chifuyu replied.

"But how could they have done something like that without blowing themselves up?"

"We both know that Phantom Task isn't above using trial and error in a situation like this. They've likely blown up hundreds of copied IS cores until they finally figured out how to build it right."

"What if they didn't?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if Dr. Tabane is working with them? What if she disabled the failsafes and allowed them to build their own core?" Maya said, genuine fear in her voice.

"Then I can only pray that that's not the case." Chifuyu replied.

"I guess only time will tell." With those words, Maya said, standing up. As she was leaving, Chifuyu spoke up again.

"It looks like the third world war will be a secret one." Chifuyu said.

"What do you mean?"

"It will end up being a worldwide conflict between Phantom Task and the various organizations that stand to oppose it, and it will all be fought out of the public eye."

"And are you a part of one of those organizations?" Maya asked.

"We both are. After all, we work at IS Academy." Chifuyu smiled wryly at her colleague.

* * *

The next day, Ichika found himself waiting in one of the academy's storerooms, where Maya had decided to conduct any clandestine meetings between the two of them.

"Good to see that you are already here, Orimura-kun." Maya smiled as she entered the dimly lit room. She held a package in her hands.

"Why did you want to see me?" Ichika said.

"Well, first I wanted to congratulate you on your performance against that... thing that Phantom Task sent against us. I've already sent a report to HQ, and they have authorized me to give you the data on it as well." Maya handed Ichika a small flash drive.

"Thank you, Maya-san." Ichika smiled.

"Second, however... this is much more important." Maya handed Ichika the package. Opening it, he saw a large black pouch contained within, along with a small instruction sheet that told him how to open the secret compartment at the bottom. Following the instructions, Ichika gasped as he saw the contents of the hidden section.

"Why... Why am I getting this?" Ichika lifted the tiny firearm up in the palm of his hand, keeping the barrel pointed to the side. He recognized the weapon, as it had been designed by one of his colleagues. The OCP-2 was a tiny weapon, designed to be easily concealed within the palm of one's hand. It had no metal parts, meaning that it was completely invisible to metal detectors. The pistol had a silencer, a true silencer that rendered the shots nearly inaudible, attached to its barrel, making it perfect should he ever need to assassinate someone. The OCP-2 carried four .50 caliber rounds in its tiny magazine, giving it excellent stopping power in addition to its stealthy qualities.

"The Organization had deemed the IS Academy to be at risk of infiltration by Phantom Task operatives. You know how to use it, right?" Yamada said softly as Ichika examined the weapon. In addition to the pistol, the secret compartment also carried six spare magazines, all of which were held in place by special clips.

"I do, but I hope I never have to." Ichika replied as he stored the weapon away.

"Good. Remember though, that it is not a toy. Should you use it without either my express permission, the authorization of another, higher ranked Organization member, or in the event of an attack on the Academy, then expulsion from both the Organization and IS Academy will be the least of your worries." Maya warned.

"I understand." Ichika replied, closing the secret compartment.

"Glad to hear it. Now, I am also here to inform you of an engagement that occurred between a force of Organization aircraft and a Phantom Task submarine yesterday, the battle beginning around the time you engaged and destroyed the Phantom Task drone that attacked the Academy. We suffered no casualties, and the submarine that launched the IS was confirmed destroyed. However, we were forced to retreat as a Phantom Task relief force arrived soon after we confirmed the sub's destruction. However, the mere existence of this submarine confirms what we have long believed regarding our enemy's capabilities. They no longer need to steal from other nations in order to empower their forces. Indeed, they are now capable of producing their own advanced weapons of war. This means that the unit that attacked you yesterday was likely not the only one, and that the terrorists are indeed building more of them."

"Oh no..." Ichika simply replied.

"My thoughts exactly. As such, we have stepped up production of White Pattern IS cores. Soon I believe that we will be able to produce one core per week, and we are capable of producing companion AIs at an even faster rate. However, while we will soon have a large amount of cores available to us, building IS units for them will take much longer. As such, rather than building each pilot a personal IS, we have decided to standardize. Here are several designs that Dr. White has already reviewed. He has asked me to pass these on to you to check just in case he has missed something while he was going over them." Maya handed Ichika another drive.

"I will do my best, Maya-san." Ichika replied.

"Good. Last but not least, I would like to give you early warning of two incoming transfer students, and would like to give you their dossiers." Yet another drive was given to him.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, is there anything you wish to talk to me about, or will that be all?" Maya asked.

"Actually, there is something I want to ask you... It's about one of the original dossiers you handed to me. The one for Sarashiki Kanzashi." Ichika spoke.

"What about her?"

"It says that she is a potential recruit. What does that mean?" Ichika asked.

"It means that she will likely be targeted for recruitment as soon as we can catch her alone. However, her sister watches her like a hawk, so we can't get close to her without arousing Tatenashi's suspicions."

"So you plan to recruit her into our organization?"

"I do, and soon as well. I will likely enlist your aid while doing so."

"So what do I do?" Ichika asked.

"Nothing for now. If possible, then you should approach her and gain her trust. Maybe help her out with her IS and give her a favorable impression of you. That would make my recruitment attempt much easier."

"Oh? So you are indeed planning to recruit my sister into a shady organization! It is so good to see I guessed right!" A cheerful voice caused the two to spin around to see a blue haired, red eyed girl sitting on a crate a few feet away, a mischievous smile on her face. Ichika was mildly disturbed by how quickly he brought his new gun to bear.

"What are you doing here Tatenashi?" Maya asked, a weapon in her hand as well.

"Oh, nothing much! I am simply confirming some suspicions that I have held for quite some time." The girl replied.

"And what are you going to do with this information now that you know the truth?" Maya asked.

"Oh, nothing for now! So long as you two don't do anything dangerous, then I will have no need to leak this information to the public!" Tatenashi said, still cheerful, but there was a dangerous gleam in her eye.

Maya simply laughed.

"Are you really trying to blackmail us?"

"No, not really. After all, I am not trying to make you do anything for me."

"You really don't know what you have stumbled upon, don't you, Tatenashi... or should I say... Katana?" That got a reaction out of the girl.

"How do you know that name?" A lance appeared in the girl's hand, the weapon leveled at Maya's throat. The green haired teacher simply laughed again.

"Your little family run organization is far from the only secret group out there, Katana, so why don't you lower your weapon before things get ugly." Maya said.

"Who are you?" The girl asked.

"Just a teacher at IS academy." Maya replied.

"Bullshit. Who are you really?"

"You do realize that there are only two ways you will be leaving this room, and one of them is in a body bag, right?"

"And what is the other?"

"Sworn to secrecy and a part of something far greater than that little syndicate that you currently lead." Maya replied.

"Are we recruiting her?" Ichika asked.

"We have no choice. There is no memory serum available to us right now, so the lead treatment is the only available method of keeping secrecy aside from induction, and I doubt that you want your first use of that pistol to be on a little girl like her."

"If you were to kill me, Kanzashi will never join you."

"Then we will abandon our efforts to recruit her. After all, while she is a skilled IS pilot and engineer, she is far from irreplaceable to an organization as large as ours."

"And how large is your organization?"

"Large enough to pose a legitimate threat to Phantom Task. Unlike your family, our group is not limited to Japan in its activities."

"Prove it."

"Very well. Ichika, can you pull up the contents of the first drive I gave you? Included among the data is an after-action report of yesterday's engagement with the Phantom Task submarine. Oh, and you can lower your gun. I doubt we will be needing it."

"Understood." Ichika plugged the drive into his datapad, found the requested report, and pulled it up.

"Good. Now give it to her." With those words, Ichika walked up to the blue haired girl, gun trained on her with one hand, while clutching the datapad in the other. The girl took it, and with him watching over her shoulder, she read it. Her eyes widened as they scrolled through the data.

"This is genuine?" The girl asked, still holding the datapad. Maya nodded.

"Damn... What have I gotten myself into?" The girl spoke more to herself than to the people around her. "I guess I see what Chifuyu meant when she voiced her thoughts to me on the Third World War..."

"So what are you going to do now?" Maya asked.

"What can I do except join you? You said yourself that the Sarashiki family is limited to Japan, and given what happened last year, my organization is on its last legs. Those who aren't dead have gone to ground or simply left. Besides, even if I were able to fight my way out of this room, something that I believe I am more than capable of doing, the rest of you will easily be able to track me down and eliminate both me and what remains of my organization without even breaking a sweat. The fact that your group has aims similar to my own is just a bonus. So I want in." The girl finished simply.

"Very well then. Ichika, as she is a new member, you will be responsible for her until she is formally inducted next Saturday. After which, you will likely continue to be in charge of her as her superior officer in the IS corps."

"Wait, how highly ranked are you two?" Tatenashi asked.

"I'm a high ranking field operative of our Intelligence department, and am one of the five wing commanders of our IS corps. Ichika is another, and he is also a mid ranking member of our R&D department, although his word is all but law when it comes to building IS suits. The only one who outranks him in the IS design field is his mentor, Dr. White."

"Ichika is that high ranked in the IS corps?" Tatenashi asked, impressed.

"He was one of the first members to be trained into full membership, and he has gone through courses that not only deal with personal ability, but also with small unit tactics and command."

"I see." A smile returned to the blue haired girl's face. "Does that mean I have to call him Ichika-sempai now?"

"That is up to you two. Now, if there is nothing else to say, then this meeting is concluded." Maya replied, a smile on her face.

"Does that mean I can stop waging cyberwarfare against her IS now?" A fourth voice piped up.

"Wait, what do you mean Ori?" Ichika replied as the AI shimmered into view.

"Well, when I saw her partially deploy her lance, I began working to prevent her from fully deploying her IS!" The AI replied, causing Tatenashi's eyes to widen.

"Wait, who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Ori White! It doesn't stand for anything yet, but that doesn't stop me from being Ichika's awesome AI partner!" The cheerful AI exclaimed.

"What?"

"She was made in order to be my partner for IS combat. She's the main reason my IS can use its special ability." Ichika explained to the blue haired girl who was currently poking at Ori's avatar with her finger.

"So when do I get one, Ichika-sempai?" Tatenashi asked after she finished poking the hologram.

Ichika sighed upon hearing this. It was going to be a long week.

* * *

"So, Ichika-sempai, what do you think about this Organization?" Tatenashi asked while sitting on the bed in her room. Apparently, being the student council president meant getting your own room, one of many reasons that Ichika was jealous of his charge.

"Well, I think that they're doing the right thing."

"Of course stopping Phantom Task is the right thing to do. After all, I know what their true motives are, so it is imperative that they are halted before they can succeed in their efforts to dominate the globe. What I want to know is what you personally think about all this." Tatenashi said.

"It's hard to say really. I mean, the Organization rescued me from a Phantom Task kidnapping attempt when I was ten, which was part of the reason I joined them. As for what they do, I really do think that they are doing the right thing. When I was first inducted, one of the members of the Intelligence corps told me that the Organization has three main objectives: Firstly, to preserve the balance of power in the world. Secondly, to prevent open armed combat between nations, and finally, to perform counter-terrorist operations. Do I think they have another hidden agenda? Of course! But I do think that what they are doing right now is good for the world as a whole." Ichika replied.

"I see..." Tatenashi trailed off.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Ichika asked.

"No, I do. It's just that it's somewhat overwhelming, seeing how tiny the Sarashiki family's efforts truly were in comparison to the Organization."

"I see... That reminds me, just what exactly is the Sarashiki family? I know a bit from reading your dossier, but not the whole story." Ichika said.

"Wait, they gave you a dossier on me?" Tatenashi asked.

"Yes, they did."

"I should have been expecting that. Whatever, it doesn't matter now. Anyway, you wanted to know about the Sarashiki family? Well, think of it as a covert organization similar to your own, masquerading in the guise of an old and traditional family. Or at least that was the case until a few years ago..." Tatenashi trailed off.

"What happened?" Ichika asked.

"Didn't it say in my dossier?" Ichika thought for a moment, and then it came to him.

"Oh... I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"Don't worry. Anyway, Phantom Task finally decided that it was time to get rid of us, and one of their cells launched a surprise attack on my household. My sister was away at the time, but I was there. My family and its associates sacrificed themselves to let me get away..." At that Ichika saw her reach over to one of the drawers in the room and pull out a picture. It was of a golden haired, crimson eyed woman with a voluptuous figure and a cruel smile on her face.

"This is the woman who led the attack."

"Squall? Damn..." Ichika said as soon as he saw the picture of one of Phantom Task's more effective cell commanders.

"Do you know anything about her?"

"Not much, her activity's mostly falls under the purview of the intelligence department." Ichika replied.

"So you haven't been able to catch her yet?" The blue haired girl asked.

"No, although the after-action report we were given said that she was the assumed leader of the IS relief force that arrived after we sank the submarine. The follow up attack on the island she launched from turned up nothing as well. For all intents and purposes, we stormed an empty island." Ichika replied. Tatenashi simply sighed.

"It looks like the oxymoron of military intelligence applies to covert organizations as well..." The blue haired girl said, before cheering up.

"Anyway, enough about that! I'm sure that all this seriousness is starting to bore you Ichika-sempai!"

"I don't really mind... so what do you want to do now?" Ichika asked.

"Well... right now we're alone in a room together, with nobody watching us..."

"No." Ichika said firmly.

* * *

"You're back late. Did something happen?" Houki asked as Ichika finally managed to make it into his room, finally safe from Tatenashi.

"No... Something just held me up." Ichika replied.

"Ichika... this isn't about that IS that attacked you yesterday, is it?" Houki asked, concerned.

"Well..."

"Ichika, you heard what your sister said! If you were found out, then-"

"I know what Chifuyu-nee said, and I don't intend to get into any trouble."

"But..."

"Don't worry Houki, nothing will happen to me. I'll still be here tomorrow, and the day after that, and so on." This caused Houki to look away.

"I-Ichika..."

"Yes Houki?" Ichika smiled.

"Nothing... Just stay safe, alright?"

"Don't worry, I will." Ichika said.

"Say, Ichika? Where did you get that?" Houki pointed at the pouch that contained Ichika's new weapon.

"Oh, it's just something I got after I saw how it looked. Do you like it?" Ichika asked. For some reason, this caused the girl to giggle slightly.

"What? It can't be that bad!"

"Nothing, I just thought that obsessing over your clothing accessories was a girls-only thing!" Houki said, still giggling.

"Hey!"

Soon, however, the pair settled down, and Houki went into the shower, leaving Ichika alone. He decided to have a look at the dossiers that Maya had given him earlier that day regarding the coming transfer students. However, as soon as he opened the folder in which they were contained, he saw something unusual.

Maya had said that there were two incoming students, but there were three dossiers. He opened the first one, labeled 'Charles Dunois', and saw that it was blank. The birth date, parents, and all other important information was present, but there was no personal history other than the fact that he was evidently capable of piloting an IS and had been provided with a Raphael Revive variant that had been upgraded and fitted with an IS core. However, the rest of the dossier was blank. Ichika closed it, and opened the next one, which was labeled 'Charlotte Dunois', and immediately saw its significance. At first glance, the girl could have been Charles' twin sister, being born on the same day, to the same parents, namely Raphael Dunois and one of his mistresses, and having identical hair and eye coloration. The two were indeed very similar, almost too similar. However, unlike Charles, Charlotte had a fully fleshed out personal history, from her childhood to the present. Why would one twin have next to nothing present on them, while the other twin was fully developed? Unless... Ichika looked over the similarities between the two, and pulled up their pictures. They were identical, almost as if the same person had been photographed from different angles. Did that mean the Charles and Charlotte were one and the same? Ichika decided to spare himself a headache for now and figure it out once the student arrived.

Ichika then opened the last file present, which contained information on a Laura Bodewig. Reading quickly through it, Ichika soon saw the exact reason behind the girl being labeled a threat. She was designed from birth to be the perfect soldier, trained extensively in combat as soon as she could hold a weapon, capable of field stripping a G-36C Assault Rifle by age five... the list went on and on in describing her capabilities. However, as Ichika continued to read, his eyes widened in shock. The IS had rendered her original purpose obsolete, so the people in charge of her development attempted to turn her into the world's best IS pilot in addition to her status as a perfect soldier. However, the attempt at raising her IS compatibility score was a partial failure. While the girl's compatibility score now sat at an even 100, making her borderline S ranked in terms of IS potential, the implantation of a complex hyper-sensor suite in place of her left eye ended up placing a horrible strain on her central nervous system, nearly killing her and causing her capabilities as a soldier to drastically deteriorate.

Then he read about how Chifuyu, as a favor to one of her friends in Germany, whipped Laura into shape, allowing her to overcome her debilitating condition and once again take her place as a perfect soldier. This instilled an almost fanatical loyalty to Chifuyu in the younger girl's mind, hence the girl's status as a security risk. Maya had already warned Ichika that his older sister was harboring some suspicions about him, and he knew that with a single order, Chifuyu could easily set a very capable agent after him.

Closing the file, Ichika sighed, lying back on his bed. It looked like this year would soon become even more interesting than it already was.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's a wrap! I hope that I got Tatenashi's character right, as it's my first time writing someone like her.**

 **Regarding what I wrote about the Sarashiki family, everything about them being a secret organization opposed to Phantom Task under the guise of an old, traditional family is true. Same with Tatenashi's original name, Katana. Apparently, the head of the Sarashiki family is always named Tatenashi, regardless of their birth name. However, I was curious as to how Tatenashi ascended to the leadership of her family at such a young age, and given what her family was involved in, I doubt that it was anything pleasant, hence Phantom Task killing her family. That also explains the personal animosity between Squall and Tatenashi that was present in the Anime.**

 **As for the Orimuras = Phantom Task thing, I know that it has been done before. However, in all the stories I've read with that feature present, it always seems to end up being "Orimuras hate Chifuyu but love Ichika, and want to take him back and have hot incestuous relationships with him." As such, I tried to put a hopefully unique spin on the common trope. In addition, most fics that feature superpowered Orimuras tend to give Ichika unique powers of his own, and I decided to do the exact opposite, having Ichika being an ordinary human that was rejected from a transhuman family, only living thanks to his sister.**

 **The Golem was a very curious thing in the anime, as not only did it bleed when Ichika cut it, it also contained an IS core that was not made by Dr. Tabane. The Anime mentions this once... and promptly forgets all about it, not even mentioning it when the newer, better Golems make their appearance in the second season. (Or at least, I don't remember anything about unregistered cores.) Thus, I've decided to expand on both the Golems and their creator, both of which help make Phantom Task much more than the generic evil organization it is in the anime.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and that you all look forward for the next installment.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This chapter started somewhat slowly, and I had to re-write the beginning from scratch before I was satisfied with it, hence the long wait between updates. Sorry if the beginning still feels a bit rushed, but I wanted to get to Charlotte's introduction.**

 **Chapter 7**

The black haired girl knelt in the center of the dark room, an unreadable expression on her face, as her new commanding officer paced around her.

"My my little M, you've certainly grown since I've last seen you!" Squall spoke after a few minutes of silence. Madoka didn't reply, continuing to stare at a single spot on the wall.

"Aww, no hello for your childhood friend? I'm hurt!" Squall said, walking up behind her and placing her hands on the younger girl's shoulders.

Madoka remained silent, although her body involuntarily tensed up as the older woman's hands came down upon her.

"Well? Don't you have anything to say? Anything at all? Won't you at least thank me for rescuing you from that shipwreck?" Squall's voice began to lose its playful edge, and Madoka braced herself for what was coming next.

"Hmph. How rude! Not even a small thank-you for me saving your life! It looks like you need to be taught another lesson in manners." At that, a wave of agony coursed through Madoka's body as the device hidden in Squall's hand activated. Only experience prevented the black haired girl from crying out, while her body barely twitched, despite every nerve in her body burning in pain.

"Bitch." Madoka choked out several seconds later, when the pain finally stopped. Squall simply sighed in response.

"Have you forgotten how to address your betters, little M? No matter, you will soon learn your place once more." As she spoke, Squall twisted Madoka's head until their eyes met.

"I know how to address my betters, Meusel. You don't qualify." Madoka replied, causing Squall's crimson eyes to flash in anger. Before she knew it, Madoka was slammed against the wall, the older woman's hand on her throat.

"Until further notice, you will address me by my full name and rank, or not at all. Remember, the only reason you are still alive is because of your IS compatibility score, and even that is mediocre in comparison to my own. You are expendable, little more than cannon fodder in this organization of ours. If I so wish, I can kill you right here, right now, with my bare hands, and nobody, not even your own mother, would bat an eyelash. Do you understand?" Squall spoke, her face inches away from her new subordinate's own visage, which remained emotionless.

"I understand, Cell Commander First Class Squall Meusel." Madoka's face was calm as she gritted out those words, but Squall could see the rage burning behind the black haired girl's eyes.

"See? Being a good little mistake isn't so hard after all!" The older woman said mockingly, patting her victim on the head.

Madoka growled as she was set down, causing the cruel smile on Squall's face to grow.

"You will be living here from now on, little M. Maybe if you're lucky, I will let you out once in a while!" Squall chuckled as she walked out of the dark room, slamming the door behind her. Madoka heard the door lock a few seconds later. Then, with a scream of rage, she put her fist through the wall. She heard laughter coming from outside as her older cousin heard her.

"Now now M, don't damage the wallpaper!" She heard Squall say, followed by the sound of receding footsteps.

Madoka soon lay down on the small cot that was the only real furniture in the room, burying her face in the pillow, her tears soaking into the fabric. It was only when she was alone like this that she allowed herself to cry.

* * *

As Madoka was quietly sobbing into her pillow, Ichika and Tatenashi were disembarking from a Chinook helicopter and entering the confines of the Organization headquarters. The scene had certainly changed from when Ichika had first entered all those years ago, with exposed wiring and dim lightbulbs being replaced by sleek, well lit corridors, through which the pair were now walking.

"This certainly feels like something out of a spy movie." Tatenashi commented as they turned a corner, only to be met by Yukari and two uniformed men. The men carried rifles, while the Japanese IS pilot had an earring on display, indicating her status as an IS pilot.

"Recruit Sarashiki, you are to surrender your IS to us before proceeding beyond this point. Failure to comply will result in your arrest and detainment until further notice." Yukari announced as the pair came to a halt in front of her. After a few moments of hesitation, Tatenashi handed the device in question over. Yukari took it, before speaking again.

"Junior Wing Commander Orimura, you are to come with me to the R&D labs. We are to deliver this IS unit to Dr. White for refits. Recruit Sarashiki, you are to follow these two gentlemen." Yukari said, gesturing to the two armed men that flanked her.

"Wait, what are you going to do to my IS?" Tatenashi asked.

"We're going to improve it." Ichika said simply, before he followed Yukari down one corridor, while Tatenashi was escorted down another. Once they were out of earshot, Ichika spoke to his mentor and superior officer.

"Since when did you get your own true IS?" Ichika asked.

"Oh, this? My old Revive just got a refit while you were away, that's all." Yukari replied, touching her earring.

"Ah, I see. So, did anything else happen while I was away?" Ichika asked.

"Well, we've finally got our next male recruits in the IS corps, although they're still cadets so they won't be seeing action for a few months, at least. I've heard that R&D has begun working on mass production TIS units as well in order to meet the corps' requirements."

"Oh, I've already looked over the MP unit schematics, and I have to say that I am impressed." Ichika said.

"You have? That's nice to know." Yukari spoke as the pair entered the R&D bay. Looking around, Ichika saw four IS units in early stages of construction. He recognized them as the mass production TIS prototypes.

"Orimura! It's good to see you here! I assume you have the Mysterious Lady with you?" Dr. White said as the pair walked up to him.

"Yeah, here it is." Yukari said.

"Good. Deploy it so that we can get started." Dr. White ordered, and Yukari complied, the Russian IS bursting into existence around her.

"Alright, we'll take it from here. You are dismissed." The doctor ordered, and Yukari stepped out of the IS and left.

"Ok, Ichika, you know the drill. Let's remove the core." Ichika did as the doctor ordered, and soon the black sphere was removed and placed in a core containment system, being carried away by several engineers.

"Now that the core has been dealt with, let's begin the refits. If we work fast, we should be able to adapt it to fit a White Pattern core by the end of the day." Raymond said. Ichika nodded in response.

It was several hours later that Ichika felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Tatenashi wearing an Organization uniform with an Intelligence insignia on her right shoulder, and an IS corps insignia on the other.

"So, what are you two doing to my IS?" Tatenashi asked, looking up at the Mysterious Lady, which was currently cut open and had a White Pattern IS Core sticking halfway out of it.

"We're replacing its IS Core with one of our own make, as well as an AI control module." Ichika replied.

"An AI? You mean like Ori?" Tatenashi asked.

"What about me?" The AI shimmered into view above Ichika's shoulder.

"Oh, Tatenashi here is just getting an AI partner like you." Ichika explained.

"Yay!" The AI cheered, causing a shower of confetti to appear around her avatar.

"You certainly seem excited about it!" Tatenashi said.

"Of course! This means that I'll finally have someone like me at the academy! We'll have so much fun together!" The AI said, confetti still raining down around her.

"Aww, so you've had enough of me?" Ichika asked, faking sadness.

"Don't worry! You're still my bestest friend, remember?" Ori replied, the confetti finally stopping.

"Of course I do Ori!" Ichika replied, poking the AI on its holographic forehead.

"Junior Operative Tatenashi, there you are. I assume you have been asked to report to me?" Dr. White said, walking up to the pair.

"Yes, I was ordered report to you in order to pick up something, although they didn't tell me what." Tatenashi replied.

"Good." Raymond said offhandedly while he looked at something on his datapad.

"So what am I supposed to pick up?" Tatenashi asked, but was ignored.

"Ichika, finish the modifications. Tatenashi, come with me." Raymond said after a few moments, and the blue haired girl promptly followed him, leaving Ichika alone to work on the IS. He was still working when the pair returned an hour later with a new companion in tow.

"Ichika! Meet Tuman!" Tatenashi called out, gesturing at the holographic figure hovering over her shoulder. The AI in question took the form of a young boy with blood red hair and light blue eyes. The avatar wore a Russian Officer's uniform, and stood stiffly at his partner's side.

"Tuman? He named himself after the Russian word for fog?" Ichika asked.

"Of course! I drew inspiration from my partner's IS unit's original name! Is that a problem?" The AI announced haughtily.

"No, that's not a problem. Now, I trust you know what you will be doing?" Ichika asked.

"Of course I do! Now, let me see what I will be working with." The AI ordered.

"The Mysterious Lady will soon be operational. You can see it then." Ichika said as he returned to his work.

"My IS unit's operational status is not a problem. I wish to inspect it- Hey! Who are- What are you doing? Stop that!" That exclamation caused Ichika to look up and see Ori's hologram hovering inches away from Tuman's own avatar.

"Hello! My name is Ori, and you are going to be my new friend!" Ori spoke, causing Tuman's avatar to shimmer and break apart as she tried to hug it.

"Hey! Stop that! Tatenashi, make her stop!" The newly created AI complained as its hologram reformed. Unfortunately for him, his partner was too busy laughing at his situation to do anything about it.

"Don't worry, we're gonna be best friends! But not bestest friends, that's just for me and Ichika! But we'll still be best friends!" Ori called out, grabbing onto Tuman's holographic arm and attempting to drag him with her. Of course, with him being a hologram, that simply caused his arm to briefly break apart before reforming.

"Ori, I don't think he likes that." Ichika said, watching the interaction between the two AIs. Apparently, Raymond had similar sentiments, as he soon forced the two holograms apart from each other, chastising Ori for her behavior as he did so.

The Mysterious Lady was finished by the end of the day, although Tatenashi wasn't there to see it. The blue haired girl had taken her leave some time before in order to pick up a package from the Intelligence department. Tuman had remained behind, however, as the newly created AI was quite eager to finally inspect his IS, and he had pronounced his satisfaction with the suit after several minutes of constant inspection.

Tatenashi barely had a chance to see her newly upgraded IS before it was time for her to depart. After all, classes resumed for them the next day, and they had to be at IS Academy by then. Tatenashi quickly stowed away the Mysterious Lady, and was soon running out of the room, Ichika following close behind her.

"So what was in that package you had to pick up from Intel?" Ichika asked as they entered the helicopter hangar.

"A few things. A supply of memory serum, for one, along with a box of ammo for the OCP, will be for both our use and Maya's back at the academy. In addition, I've been supplied with a pistol of my own, complete with a pouch to carry it in. Do you like it?" As Tatenashi spoke that last sentence, Ichika noticed the pink, fluffy pouch that now sat squarely on her hip. Ichika also noticed that several cargo boxes were also loaded into the helicopter as he boarded.

Soon, they were leaving Urup island behind them, the Chinook taking them to a landing pad near the IS Academy. It was while they were flying that Tatenashi spoke up.

"At first I thought that Maya-san was exaggerating when it came to the Organization's strength, but I know better now. How you managed to keep all this secret is beyond me." Tatenashi said, her voice serious.

"I honestly don't know how we manage to keep our operations secret, but then again, I suppose that Phantom Task is much the same in that department. All the world nations simply see a lucky terrorist group that managed to steal multiple IS units, but we both know that the truth is much more sinister." Ichika replied.

"Yeah..." Tatenashi trailed off, lost in thought.

"Is something troubling you?" Ichika asked, noticing the expression on the normally playful girl's face.

"I suppose there is." Tatenashi replied.

"What is it?"

"Well, I was just wondering... If it came down to open warfare between the Organization and Phantom Task, who do you think will win?" Tatenashi said after a few moments.

"I've asked myself that same question many times, and my answer is usually the same. Right now, I just don't know. I mean, we are superior in terms of conventional air power, and we're about equal in terms of conventional ground forces. However, that submarine we sank last week could indicate the presence of an immense underwater navy, and we don't have an equal to match it should it indeed exist. As for the IS... I used to think that we had a clear advantage in the form of the White pattern core, but now that they have the Golems, I honestly don't know who has the advantage in that department." Ichika replied.

"Weapons alone don't win wars." Tatenashi said, a slight amount of hope in her voice.

"I know that, but I'm not in Intel, so I know next to nothing about that side of the Organization." Ichika replied.

"Hmm..." Tatenashi didn't say anything for a while, and nearly half an hour passed before she spoke again.

"Let's hope this war stays hidden in the shadows then, Ichika." Tatenashi broke the silence in the dark craft.

"I hope so too. If this secret war is unveiled and the various world nations get involved, the result would be a true World War Three. Not just over Phantom Task, but revolving around the IS itself." Ichika replied, silencing Tatenashi once more.

When the blue haired girl spoke again a few minutes later, she seemed to have banished such dark thoughts from her mind.

"So, Ichika-kun, how much longer before we arrive?" Tatenashi asked, her voice cheerful once more, although Ichika could still see worry in her eyes.

"Another hour or so. Why do you ask?" Ichika replied.

"Okay! That's more than enough time to slip in a quickie!"

"No! Have you forgotten that we've got two AIs watching us?" Ichika exclaimed. This caused Tuman to shimmer into existence above Tatenashi's shoulder.

"No, please, do go on. I am curious as to what you were speaking about, as I have no information on-" Ichika plugged his ears as the AI continued to speak. His eye twitched as he finally removed his fingers from his ears. He certainly wasn't going to be the one to give 'The Talk' to the newly created AI, that was for sure!

* * *

Ichika finally made it up to his room nearly two hours later, and saw immediately that the light was on. Opening the door, he saw Maya standing inside, talking to Houki.

"... gotten the room matter solved!" The green haired teacher spoke, only to turn around when Ichika entered.

"Oh! I-Ichika-san! You're back! Good, now I can explain to both of you." Maya exclaimed, turning to face him.

"Ichika? Where have you been?" Houki asked at the same time.

"I'll tell you later Houki. Now, Yamada-sensei, what was this about the room matter being solved?" Ichika asked.

"Well, it's been decided that Shinonono-san will be moving to a new room!" Maya exclaimed, causing Houki to jump up from where she was sitting on the bed.

"Wait, what? Does this have to happen immediately?" The long haired girl exclaimed.

"That is correct. After all, having a mature boy and girl living in the same room is a little... Well, you find it uncomfortable, right?" Maya asked tentatively.

"I- I'm..." Houki trailed off, glancing at Ichika, who had sat down on his own bed while Maya was making her announcement.

"Don't worry Houki. While I'll admit that having my own room will be a little lonely, we'll still see each other during the day!" Ichika said, smiling at his childhood friend.

"V-Very well... I'll change rooms." Houki said, somewhat despondently. Apparently, she was still upset from the impending loss of her roommate.

"A-Alright!" Maya exclaimed, watching as Houki quickly gathered up her things and left, Maya following behind her. As she left, Ichika noticed a post-it note stuck to the desk that Maya had briefly leaned against right before leaving. Ichika quickly picked up the note, and decoded the hastily written message on it.

'Will be recruiting Kanzashi in in a month's time. Get to know her.' The note simply read, and Ichika nodded to himself before finding a pencil and quickly erasing the message. A knock on the door caused him to quickly crumple up the newly clean note, however, and quickly toss it into the trash before he walked up to the door.

Opening it, he saw a blushing Houki standing in the doorway.

"Is something wrong? Did you forget anything?" Ichika asked her, the girl in question staring at her shoes, avoiding eye contact.

"I... I have something to tell you." Houki declared.

"What is it? Did something happen?" Ichika asked.

"Well, about that grade level tournament coming up next month..." Houki took a deep breath at that, composing herself, before she continued.

"Ichika... If I become the champion... you will go out with me!" Houki shouted that last part out, and Ichika quickly pulled her into the room with him, slamming the door behind them. However, if the faint whispering noises outside were indicative of anything, Houki's declaration had indeed been overheard.

"Now look what you've done!" Ichika complained to a blushing Houki. "I can guarantee that there will be blown up rumors about this by the end of the day!"

Houki didn't reply, as she seemed to be in shock. That was when Ichika noticed the position they were in, with his arm wrapped around her, pressing their bodies together.

The two of them sprang apart a moment later, both their faces crimson.

"So will you?" Houki asked, regaining her voice. Ichika was silent for a few moments before he replied.

"I guess so. But remember, if we end up fighting each other, I won't hold back!" He said, smiling.

"Of course you won't! I'll beat you fair and square, just you wait!" The long haired girl exclaimed, a rare smile on her normally scowling face as she left the room. Once he was alone, Ichika turned away from the door and sighed.

"Ten dollars says that all the girls in the academy will be fighting over you tomorrow." Ori piped up.

"Not taking that bet, they do so all the time." Ichika replied as he went into the shower.

* * *

The next day, the halls of IS Academy were buzzing with whispers and rumors, specifically regarding Ichika and the upcoming tournament.

"Hey, did you hear?" One girl in Class 1-1 whispered.

"What? You mean about that weird IS the other day?" Another replied.

"No, that was just some experimental machine running amok." A third girl butted in.

"Not that, I've heard that if you win the tournament this month, you can date Orimura-kun!" The first girl declared.

"Really?"

"Seriously?" The other two girls exclaimed.

"What are they talking about so excitedly?" Cecilia Alcott asked from where she stood by Houki. The brown haired girl simply groaned and buried her face in her arms.

"Good morning!" Ichika announced as he entered the room. Immediately, the chattering girls went quiet, before the whispering began once more, this time quiet so that Ichika couldn't overhear.

Of course, as he went to his seat, he still overheard faint snatches of conversation.

"... I hope it's true!"

"I'm gonna be the one just you wait!"

"That date with Orimura-kun is mine!"

Ichika mentally facepalmed at that.

"Everyone, settle down. We will now begin homeroom." Chifuyu announced as she entered the room. Once the class had quieted down, the black haired woman gestured towards Maya, who began to speak.

"Today I will be introducing a new transfer student!" The green haired teacher said brightly, right as the door slid open, immediately sparking a new wave of whispers from the class. Ichika immediately recognized the person entering the room.

"My name is Charles Dunois, and I come from France. It's nice to meet you all!" The newly named Charles introduced himself.

"A-A boy?" One of the girls tentatively asked.

"Yes! I heard that there is someone here in the same situation as me, so I transferred from my country and-" Whatever Charles was about to say was cut off by a collective squeal so loud it could break windows.

"A male student! It's another male student!"

"And he's come to our class!"

"He's so handsome, and the kind you want to protect too!"

"Silence! Settle down and be quiet!" Chifuyu's authoritative voice cut through the chatter like a knife, and the students obeyed.

"Today we will be doing IS practice together with Class 2. Everyone change quickly and report to practice ground 2. Orimura, since you are a boy as well, I would like for you to look after Dunois." Chifuyu ordered.

"Understood, Orimura-sensei." Ichika replied, standing up, while Charles approached him.

"Very well. Move out!" Chifuyu turned away from the group.

"Are you Orimura-kun? It's nice to meet you and-" Charles began in accented Japanese, but Ichika quickly cut the transfer student off.

"No time! We have to go now! The girls will be changing soon." At that Ichika grabbed the blonde's hand and pulled, noting the supposed boy's gasp at the physical contact.

"We'll change in the Arena changing rooms. We'll be running the gauntlet every practice session, so get used to it." Ichika said as he pulled the French transfer student along.

"Wait, what do you mean by running the gauntlet?" Charles asked.

"I'll explain in the changing room. For now, just... Oh no, they've found us!" Ichika slowed to a stop as a girl ran out from a nearby hallway, quickly skidding to a stop and blocking their path.

"Rumored transfer student detected!" The girl exclaimed, and soon the rest of her pack emerged from their hiding spots, surrounding their prey.

"Charles, when I say the word, just run. Don't stop, don't look back, just run as fast as your legs can carry you. Whatever you do, don't let them catch you!" Ichika said as the girls closed in around them.

"What happens if they do?" Charles asked, fear in his voice.

"You don't want to know. I have yet to find that particular pair of pants." Ichika said. He may have exaggerated a little, but the blonde transfer student behind him didn't need to know that.

Ichika turned to face the now hyperventilating blonde, who was now looking around for an escape route.

"I-Ichika-san..." Charles said hesitantly.

"Yes Charles?" Ichika asked.

"I... I'm sorry." The blonde replied.

"What for?"

'PUSH!'

The blonde's push sent Ichika sprawling, allowing Charles to make his escape while the girls leaped on his downed comrade.

"COME BACK HERE! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!" Ichika shouted moments before the girls dogpiled him.

"Sorry!" Charles shouted back before he turned the corner.

Fortunately for him, Ichika managed to quickly extricate himself from the mass of hostiles and quickly ran for his life after the blonde Frenchman. He eventually caught up with him outside the changing rooms, and they quickly locked themselves inside, panting.

"I... I'm sorry Ichika-san!" Charles was apologizing. Ichika simply turned to face the panting transfer student.

"Don't worry about it Charlotte, I would have done the same in your shoes." Ichika replied, and immediately noticed the blonde stiffen up at the name, his eyes widening as the blonde looked around for an escape route. The ponytailed blonde quickly composed himself, however, before replying.

"Ah, well, my name's not Charlotte..." The student laughed nervously, but Ichika had already gotten all the information he needed. There was no doubt in his mind that 'Charles' Dunois was actually a disguised Charlotte Dunois, masquerading as a boy in IS Academy.

"Ah, sorry, It's just that this is an all girls' academy, so I sometimes slip up..." Ichika laughed nervously, and saw the disguised girl sigh in relief.

"Don't worry about it. Just call me Charles from now on, alright?" The girl said cheerfully.

"Alright then Charles, you can just call me Ichika then!" Ichika replied, before glancing up at the clock.

"Oh no, we're running late! We need to change now!" Ichika quickly turned away and changed into the black bodysuit that he normally wore while piloting.

"You better change fast. Our homeroom teacher is very punctual, and you don't want to be late on your first day!" Ichika said, turning back to the now embarrassed girl in disguise.

"O-Okay! J-Just don't look this way please!" 'Charles' stuttered out.

"Alright." Ichika replied simply, and turned away, zipping up his own piloting suit in the process. He turned back a few seconds later only to see the blonde already changed into a two piece IS piloting uniform.

"Good, you change fast. Now, let's get going!" Ichika spoke quickly, before running out of the room, 'Charles' close behind him. They barely made it to the training ground on time, and quickly got in line with the rest of the students.

"We will begin practical lessons starting today. First, however, we will observe a practice battle. Huang! Alcott! Since you have personal machines, you will be able to begin immediately. Come to the front!" Chifuyu ordered once the class had gotten into position. The two girls obeyed, although somewhat sedately.

That was when Chifuyu spoke quietly, although Ichika still managed to catch Chifuyu's 'encouragement' of the two girls.

"You two should be more enthusiastic. After all, this is your chance to show off to him." Chifuyu commented, and the two girls immediately perked up at that information.

"This is the stage for me, the representative candidate for England, Cecilia Alcott!" Cecilia declared, deploying her IS.

"It is an excellent opportunity to show our difference in skill as personal IS users!" Rin said in turn, ShenLong forming around her.

"It seems that you will be my opponent, Rin-san!" Cecilia said.

"I'm perfectly fine with this arrangement. I'll slaughter you!" Rin taunted.

"Settle down you two, you will both be fighting against-" Chifuyu's statement was cut off by a high pitched scream that rapidly grew in volume until a Raphael Revive slammed into the ground, right on top of Ichika. He barely managed to avoid injury through partial deployment of his own IS unit's barrier

"O-Orimura-kun..." Maya spoke first, just as Ichika was regaining his bearings.

"Well... You see... If it keeps going on like this... I'll have to call Orimura-sensei my sister in law and... well, that's very tempting actually, and-" Ichika quickly leaped off the green haired teacher, noting the mischievous glint in her eyes as she spoke. That was when a pair of blue bolts of energy shot past him, narrowly missing his partially deployed shield. Turning towards the source, he saw Cecilia standing there with an evil grin on her face.

"How disappointing, it seems I missed!" Cecilia laughed.

"ICHIKA!" The Infinite Arsenal sprang into being around him as he turned to see Rin throwing a dual bladed staff towards him, but the projectile never reached its target. Two gunshots rang out, and with a pair of loud 'CLANG!'s, the staff embedded itself in the ground. Turning to face the shooter, he saw Maya taking up a firing position, her IS unit's gun still smoking.

"Ichika, are you alright?" The green haired woman asked.

"Of course. Thank you for the assistance." Ichika's voice rang out from his IS unit's helmet speakers.

"Yamada-sensei is a former IS representative candidate. Shooting like that is child's play for her." Chifuyu lectured as Rin went off to retrieve her staff.

"Well, that was ages ago, and I never went past representative candidate." Maya replied, a nervous smile on her face.

"Now then little girls, let us begin already!" Chifuyu turned to Rin and Cecilia, who were assuming combat stances.

"Wait... Are you saying we're fighting two on one?" Cecilia wondered aloud.

"That's a little..." Rin trailed off in response.

"Don't worry, you two will lose easily." Chifuyu smirked, causing the two girls to glower angrily.

"Now, let us begin!" Chifuyu called out, and the three IS pilots rose into the air.

The following battle could only be described as a one-sided beatdown, and the result was definitely not in favor of the Cecilia-Rin team.

"Dunois, please make a commentary on the IS that Yamada-sensei is using." Chifuyu ordered, and while the green haired teacher dodged through a hail of gunfire up above, 'Charles' began to describe the Raphael Revive and its capabilities.

Eventually, Maya used her sniper rifle to corral Cecilia and Rin into a collision course, and as the two girls slammed into each other, the instructor finished them off with a well placed grenade, sending the two younger pilots tumbling into the ground. While the grenade itself did relatively little damage to their shields, the high speed IS collision in midair, coupled with the force of the two mechsuits' impact with the ground, was more than enough to trigger their ADS, thus disabling them.

"I hope that you all now know exactly how capable the instructors are at this academy. From now on, show some more respect." Chifuyu began, causing Maya to laugh slightly.

"We will now begin group practice. Personal machine users will act as group leaders." Ichika barely had time to groan before he was surrounded by a gaggle of girls. He looked around to see the same thing happening to 'Charles'.

A group of Uchiganes being brought out did little to quiet the chatter of multiple females clustered around the few personal IS operators present.

"Alright everyone, settle down!" Ichika called out, and the girls listened.

"Thank you. Now, all of you line up in order of your student number. You will then step into the machine one by one, start it up, and practice walking. If I can get through all of you before the practice ends, then I might be able to teach you a few other tricks as well." Ichika ordered, and marveled at how the girls seemed to be holding on to his every world.

"Now then, Aikawa Kiyoka-san, you're up first." Ichika ordered, then snapped his fingers in front of her face when she didn't comply.

"Aikawa-san, you're holding up the class." Ichika said, causing the magenta haired girl to spring into action and leap into the IS. The Uchigane promptly leaped into action and slowly walked in a neat circle before the girl climbed out.

"Good work, Aikawa-san! Now let's give someone else a try." Ichika turned to the line and saw that Houki was next.

"Houki, you're up." Ichika called out, and the girl in question walked up to the Uchigane, only to pause and look up at the machine.

"Hmm... I can't reach the cockpit like this." The girl gestured towards the standing IS. It appeared that Kiyoka had forgot to lower the IS in order to allow someone else entry.

"No matter." Ichika brushed it off, and quickly deployed his own IS. Then, before Houki knew what he was doing, he quickly swept her off her feet and, to the jealous stares of all the other girls in the practice area, he quickly carried her into the cockpit bridal style, before dropping her off into the IS.

"There you go. Now, you know what to do from here." Ichika said to a blushing Houki.

"Ah, thank you... Say Ichika, do you have any plans for lunch today?" Houki asked.

"No, not that I know of..." Ichika trailed off.

"Really? Then how about we have lunch on the roof every once in a while! That sounds nice, doesn't it?" Houki asked.

"That sound alright." Ichika replied, causing Houki's face to light up from joy.

"Shinonono! Get to work, you're holding up your group!" Chifuyu promptly shouted, spurring the long haired girl into action.

Ichika watched as girl after girl took turns in the Uchigane, each one somehow 'forgetting' to lower the IS, thus making Ichika carry each one into the IS himself.

"So, what are you going to teach us now Ichika-sensei?" One of the girls asked as the final student disembarked. Ichika quickly checked the time, and saw that the practice session was just about to end.

"Sorry, but we're almost out of time today, so I won't be able to teach you anything else today." Ichika said, much to the disappointment of his group. Just then, Chifuyu called out the end of the session, and Ichika left to grab his lunch.

* * *

An irritated Houki sat on the roof, one of her eyes twitching as she beheld the four other people on the roof with her.

"Ichika... What is this?" The long haired girl demanded of her childhood friend, who was now sitting on the roof with her, his face unreadable.

"Well, I couldn't leave Charles here alone down there, those girls would eat him alive if I did, while Cecilia and Rin sort of invited themselves. I thought it would be for the best though, as Charles here should really get to know all of us, and what better way to do that than over lunch?" Ichika replied.

"I see..." Houki still sounded irritated, but she couldn't argue with Ichika's logic. That was when the boy in question noted that all three girls had brought out their lunches.

Rin opened hers first, revealing sweet and sour pork.

"Here Ichika, I made some this morning and you mentioned you wanted some earlier, so..." Rin trailed off as Cecilia cleared her throat beside her.

"Ichika-san, I happened to coincidentally wake up early this morning, and I happened to prepare this! By the time you're through, you'll understand that England has great food as well!" Cecilia said, revealing several rows of beautiful looking sandwiches.

"I see." Ichika said, and Cecilia handed one of the delicious looking objects to him. Taking a tentative bite, Ichika immediately felt that something was wrong. Only his desire not to offend the pilot of a deadly mechsuit kept him from spitting the food out. As it was, he quickly ate the rest of the sandwich. Surprisingly, the rest of the meal didn't taste as bad, although her wasn't sure whether it was due to Cecilia's skills at cooking or the death of his taste buds.

"How is it? Don't worry, you can have as many as you like!" Cecilia pressed the rest of the food towards him.

"Ah, but Cecilia, I couldn't possibly take all that and leave none for you! You deserve to taste the fruits of your labor." Ichika saved the rest of his tastebuds with his quick speech.

"Such a gentleman!" Cecilia smiled, and took a bite out of her own creation. That was when her face took on a greenish tinge, and she promptly spit the offending piece of food out, making choking noises all the while.

"Cecilia! Are you alright?" Ichika leaped up to help the girl.

"I-I'm fine." The girl choked out as Ichika patted her on the back.

"You sure don't sound fine. Do I need to take you to the infirmary?" Ichika asked in English.

"Ichika... Did the sandwich you ate taste as bad as that one?" Cecilia murmured quietly as she pointed at the sandwich she had bitten and promptly dropped on the ground.

"Don't worry Cecilia, it still tasted good because you were the one that made it. I'm sure that with enough practice you can get better." Ichika replied, getting a weak smile from Cecilia.

"I just don't understand, whenever someone else made them for me they tasted so good, but now..." The blonde trailed off.

"Don't worry. I'm sure your skills will improve if you try." Ichika comforted her. That was when Houki cleared her throat.

"Ahem. I'm next." Houki took the lid off her own, revealing a more traditional Japanese meal.

"That looks delicious Houki! You must have put a lot of effort into it!" Ichika complimented, causing Houki to blush and look away.

"I-I had plenty of reasons to do so! I just spent so much time on it so that I could enjoy it." She stammered out.

"Alright, then I won't stop you from enjoying it." Ichika said.

"Ah... well I guess I wouldn't mind if you had some." Houki murmured in response, before thrusting the bento at him. Smiling, Ichika took a single piece and ate it. As expected, it was delicious.

"You've really outdone yourself on this one Houki!" Ichika exclaimed.

"Really? I flavored it with ginger, soy sauce, garlic, and I mixed in a little pepper before frying. I also added in a little grated radish for flavor." Houki said as Ichika took another piece.

"This really is delicious. Are you sure you don't want any for yourself?" Ichika asked, causing Houki to shake her head.

"I ate all the failures myself, so... I'm fine!" Houki exclaimed as she saw Ichika look at her, concern plain on his face.

"Don't worry about it, I'm glad you enjoyed it!"

"No, I insist that you try some of your own food. After all, you said that you made it for yourself, didn't you?" Ichika said, picking up another piece and offering it to Houki.

"Here. Enjoy." Ichika said as Houki stared at the piece of meat.

"Oh... thank you..." Houki blushed as she ate the offered piece of food.

"Oh, is this what couples in Japan call 'Here, say ah~n'? You two must be on very good terms!" 'Charles' piped up from beside him, causing Ichika to turn around and notice the jealous stares of the other two girls on the roof.

"Yeah Ichika! Why are you so friendly with her?" Rin demanded.

"I request a do-over... later, of course!" Cecilia said, glaring down at the food she made as if it had just insulted her mother.

"Why don't you all just trade one item? That way you can all take turns!" 'Charles' said.

"Yeah, that sounds fair." Ichika chipped in.

"A-Alright, if Ichika says so." Rin replied.

"I would normally consider these actions as improper table manners, but you know what they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, so-" Cecilia was promptly shoved aside as Rin leaned forward, holding a piece of sweet and sour pork. Houki joined in, holding some of her food as well, a serious expression on her face. He heard 'Charles' giggle from his spot beside him as the disguised girl watched him.

* * *

Later that night, Ichika found himself sitting across from his new roommate, drinking some tea that he had made earlier.

"It sure is nice to be rooming with another boy." Ichika sighed as 'Charles' drank his tea across from him.

"This tastes different from regular tea. It's strange, but good nonetheless." 'Charles' said, putting down his tea. The blonde continued to speak, deftly steering the subject away from his status as a male.

"Anyway, I've heard that you do IS practice after school, Ichika. Is that true?"

"Yeah. It's not just in the IS either, as I try to stay in peak physical condition as well." Ichika replied.

"Then can I join in? I have my own personal IS unit, so I think I'll be able to fit in."

"Oh? You have your own personal unit? I didn't know that the Dunois corporation had a third generation unit ready." Ichika commented.

"No, it's not a third generation, it's a heavily upgraded Raphael Revive." The blonde spoke, although in a somewhat subdued manner.

"The Revive is a good design. You saw how Yamada-sensei managed to beat two third-gen units in a mass production Revive, so I'm sure that you'll do very well in your upgraded variant." Ichika smiled.

"So, does that mean I can join your practice sessions?" 'Charles' asked again.

"Of course you can!" Ichika smiled.

"Yes! I'll be there!" The blonde replied, drinking the rest of 'his' tea.

"You better be prepared Charlotte, because I train hard!" Ichika said, standing up, while 'Charles' spat out 'his' tea at Ichika's supposed slip-up.

"Ah! Sorry!" The blonde exclaimed.

"You know, you really do look like a Charlotte to me." Ichika said, walking around the table and clapping 'Charles' on the back.

"N-no! My name is Charles!" Ichika's roommate looked to be on the verge of panic.

"Don't worry, I'm just teasing you." Ichika replied, calming the disguised girl down.

"O-Oh, alright. Just... Please, call me Charles." Came the blonde's reply.

"I'll try, but no promises! Now, I'll take first shower today, unless you want to." When 'Charles' did not reply, Ichika headed into the shower, leaving the blonde alone in the room.

* * *

The next morning's classes began with another announcement from Maya, although Ichika already knew its contents.

"Attention class! I have another happy announcement to make today!" The green haired teacher exclaimed from her position at the front of the classroom.

"A new friend will be joining our class! This is Laura Bodewig-san, a transfer student from Germany." At that, Maya gestured to the silver haired girl that had entered the room. Laura stood stiffly at the front of the room, her one visible eye closed, while the other was hidden behind a black eyepatch. Her Academy uniform was modified, with its pants being baggier than normal. All in all, it gave the appearance of a trained military officer about to address her troops.

Whispers began spreading around the classroom, only to stop when Maya spoke up again.

"Everyone be quiet! We haven't finished introductions yet!"

"Introduce yourself, Laura." Chifuyu said when the girl remained silent.

"Understood, instructor." Laura said, before turning to the class once again. "I am Laura Bodewig. That is all."

After introducing herself, the silver haired girl turned her focus on Ichika.

"So it's you." Laura hissed, marching up to his desk. Ichika saw her draw her arm back, and a split second later Laura slapped him across the face, much to the astonishment of the rest of the class.

"I will not accept you as her brother! I will never accept it!" Laura announced, her hand still extended from the blow.

Clenching his fist at that statement, Ichika took a moment to examine the girl. Evidently, she was standing still, waiting for a response. Well, if she wanted one, then she would get one.

Springing up from his chair, Ichika quickly grabbed the girl's arm, still extended from the slap, and before the girl could react she was down on the ground, Ichika's knee on her back, while his arms held her own, ready to break the limb at a moment's notice.

"You hyper-extended your arm, leaving it vulnerable. If you had the training to back up your manner, you would have thrown a straight punch rather than a strike clearly intended for dramatic effect rather than combat. Let this be a lesson to you to never underestimate your opponent." Ichika released the girl, allowing her to swiftly return to her feet.

"Remember this, Bodewig-san. Chifuyu-nee may have taught you, but she raised me from birth. Keep that in mind." Ichika said before returning to his seat. As he returned his attention to the front of the room, he saw Chifuyu looking at him with a raised eyebrow. He smiled at her in return, earning a barely noticeable smirk in return, before Maya began her daily lecture.

* * *

As soon as class was over, Ichika was quickly pulled aside by both Cecilia and Houki, the two girls peppering him with questions regarding the new transfer student.

"Ichika-san! Who was that girl? Why did she slap you?" Cecilia demanded, her expression promising to unleash hell itself on the German student as soon as he gave the command.

"Yeah! Do you know her from somewhere?" Houki's hands were gripping an imaginary kendo stick as she spoke, the girl doubtlessly imagining putting it to good use.

"What are you talking about?" Rin asked, walking over to the trio.

"A new transfer student came in from Germany today, and the first thing she did was slap Ichika-san across the face. Naturally, a man of Ichika's caliber couldn't let such a slight pass, and he soon taught her a lesson!" Cecilia explained.

"The nerve of that girl!" Rin's expression grew feral, her single fang glinting.

"Just say the word Ichika-san, and we will make Bodewig's life a living hell!" Cecilia declared. The other two girls nodded eagerly.

"No, no, that won't be necessary." Ichika said quickly.

"But why? Laura has insulted you, your relationship with your sister, and has dared to lay a hand on you! Are you really going to let this pass without reprisal?" Houki demanded. That was when the silver haired girl passed within visual range of the small group. At that moment, Cecilia's glare could have boiled tea, while Rin's growl reminded Ichika of a particularly angry bear. Houki herself was looking around for a weapon of some kind, while several other girls were also sending angry glares at the German transfer student.

To her credit, Laura was not at all fazed by the immense amount of killing intent being sent her way, choosing instead to fix Ichika with a calculating look. Ichika met her gaze for a few second before turning to the three girls surrounding him.

"What kind of a man would I be if I let you fight my battles for me? Spread the word that any business between Laura and me will remain between the two of us." Ichika said quietly, and the three girls nodded. Honestly, Ichika would rather not associate with Laura any more than he had to, as he knew that the girl was easily the biggest threat to the Organization's secrecy present in the Academy, save perhaps for Chifuyu herself. However, now that the girl had decided to take an aggressive stance towards him, he wanted to deal with it on his own terms, rather than risk interference from other academy students.

Noticing that Laura was still standing there, Ichika walked over to her, casting a quick look at the other girls to make sure they would not interfere.

"Hmph. What do you want?" Laura asked as he approached.

"I simply want to talk." Ichika said, looking her over. He noticed several bulges, barely visible under her baggy clothing, that denoted hidden weapons. Evidently Laura noticed his investigation and moved one of her hands to her hip, evidently reaching for a weapon hidden there.

"Relax, if I wanted to attack you, I would not do so out in the open with so many people watching." Ichika said, his words not placating the German girl in the least.

"Then what are you doing here?" The silver haired girl asked.

"I simply wanted to ask about how, earlier today, you said that you didn't consider me Chifuyu-nee's sibling. Why is that?" Ichika asked in return.

"Hmph. A woman of the Instructor's caliber should not have been burdened with a weakness such as yourself." Laura replied simply. Ichika laughed in response.

"You obviously have no experience with familial bonds, Laura. Have you never heard of people surpassing their limits when their family is threatened? I am not Chifuyu-nee's weakness, or at least, I no longer am. Rather, I am her greatest strength. Evidently that is something she failed to impart to you during her time in Germany." Ichika replied, looking around. The crowd of girls had thickened, all of them watching the confrontation, some eagerly, others with simple curiosity. Ichika noticed Chifuyu among the crowd, and judging by the faint smile on her face, Ichika knew that she had heard his declaration.

"Someone like you could never compare to the instructor!" Laura shouted, bringing his attention back on to her.

"And how do you know that? If anything, I have better odds of surpassing her than you do." Ichika replied, and Laura's response was a punch, thrown at speeds that even Giorgi would be hard pressed to match.

Ichika dropped down to a knee as the fist flew towards his face, one arm coming up and deflecting the blow above his head, while his other arm went down to his leg and drew his knife. Bringing the weapon up, Ichika slammed the pommel into Laura's solar plexus, the girl crying out less from the pain and more in an attempt to keep the wind from being knocked out of her. At the same time, Ichika's empty hand came down, attempting to sweep the girl's legs out from under her, but Laura anticipated this and stepped out of the way, buying Ichika time to rise to his feet again.

Ichika heard whispering break out around him as the girls saw the two of them face off, Laura having drawn her own knife from out of her sleeve.

"Hey Laura, instead of fighting pointlessly in the halls, how about a bet?" Ichika called out. When Laura didn't move, Ichika continued to speak.

"What I propose is simple: the grade level tournament is coming up next month, giving both of us plenty of time to prepare. We will settle our differences in the Arena. If I win, then you will accept me as Chifuyu-nee's brother."

"And what if I win?" Laura asked, curious.

"Do you want anything particular?" Ichika asked, confident in his chances of victory.

"If I win, then you must sever all ties with the Instructor. A weak being such as yourself should never have been associated with a goddess like her." Laura replied. A splintering 'CRACK!' from behind him indicated a pencil shattering in his older sister's grip.

"No. I will not accept that." Ichika snarled, hand tightening around the grip of his knife.

"Then what can you possibly grant me when you lose?" Laura demanded.

"I can give you private lessons with the one you so admire. If I lose, then I will ensure that Chifuyu-nee will continue to train you, just like she did in Germany." Ichika said.

"And what makes you think that you can accomplish this?" Laura asked, attempting to sound aloof and uninterested, but Ichika saw the eagerness in her only visible eye.

"She only taught you in the first place because she lost a bet while drinking with a friend in the German military. I am sure that she will extend the same courtesy to me, isn't that right, Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika turned to the woman in question as he spoke. Chifuyu seemed to consider things for a few moments, before she nodded and addressed the pair.

"Very well. If a little girl like you can manage to best my brother, then I am willing to invest my time in training you further. I trust that the two of you will let this issue lie until the upcoming tournament?" Chifuyu declared.

"Yes Instructor/Orimura-sensei!" Laura and Ichika chorused together, before turning away and, quickly sheathing their weapons, they walked their separate ways, Ichika heading to Charles, who had joined up with Rin, Houki, and Cecilia while the confrontation was taking place.

"Ichika? What just happened?" The blonde haired cross dresser asked.

"It's a long story. Now, I believe I promised to let you in on our daily practice sessions? Well, they begin now. Let's get going." Ichika replied, turning and heading down to the practice arenas, the four girls following behind him.

* * *

"Alright, I'm sure you all know Charles already, but just in case you don't, then this is Charles Dunois. Despite his looks, he's definitely a boy, so none of you have to worry about additional competition." Ichika joked as he introduced Charles to the rest of the girls.

"It's good to meet you Dunois-kun! My name is Huang Lingyin, but you can just call me Rin!" Rin smiled, extending her hand for 'Charles' to shake, the blonde taking it after a few moments of hesitation.

"Now, I am sure you've already heard of me, but I am Cecilia Alcott. It is a pleasure to meet you Charles." Cecilia introduced herself next, smiling kindly at the disguised blonde across from her.

"My name is Shononono Houki, although you may simply call me Houki or Shinonono-san. Oh, and before you ask, I am related to Dr. Tabane." Houki concluded the introductions.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, we can begin our training. Now, earlier today, a little bird told me that the upcoming tournament will be fought between pairs of students rather than simple one-on-one matches, so I believe that a little teamwork practice is in order. Charles, since you're new, I'll be your partner today. Houki, Cecilia, Rin, you three will be against us." Ichika said, deploying his IS.

"Aren't the teams a little unfair? I mean, it's two against three." 'Charles' asked, deploying an orange IS, evidently a heavily modified Raphael Revive.

"Oh it's unfair alright!" Rin groused as she deployed ShenLong.

"Yeah, Ichika-san has a partner this time." Cecilia complained as she activated her Blue Tears, the small, wedge shaped drones taking up positions around her own IS.

Houki, meanwhile, simply chose to remain silent, drawing her Uchigane's katana.

"Alright, since I have Charles with me, I won't be using any drones during today's match." Ichika said, his IS unit's armament configuration being the same as when he fought Rin and the Golem, save for the Impact Cannon being replaced by an FEL. The other students present simply nodded, before zooming to opposite corners of the arena.

"Alright Charles, I'll engage Rin and Cecilia while you go for Houki. Once you eliminate her, target Cecilia. Keep your distance when fighting Houki, but get in close when you go for Cecilia. Got it?" Ichika ordered while his three opponents made their own plans across from him.

A minute passed, then the battle began, with Houki and Rin charging while Cecilia stayed behind to provide fire support. Houki's charge was brought up short by a burst of machine gun fire from Charles, who shot past her a few seconds later, still firing.

"Keep her between you and Cecilia! Don't let her get a lock on you!" Ichika said as a storm of blue energy bolts shot towards his partner, who took several hits before he managed to bring his own IS around and return fire.

"Behind you!" Ichika called out as he wove through a barrage of impact cannon fire, his FEL targeting one of Cecilia's drones as he did so. Charles turned around only to see Houki directly behind him, sword raised for a devastating strike. Barely dodging out of the way, the blonde swapped out the long range rifle that was currently in 'his' hands for a large shotgun, firing into Houki's side at point-blank range before accelerating away, keeping the sword wielder between 'himself' and Cecilia, preventing the British girl from getting a lock on him.

As 'Charles' was dueling Houki, Ichika ducked and wove around Rin's melee strikes, firing bursts into her IS at point blank range. He was not undamaged by any means, as the Chinese girl was quite adept in melee, her twin scimitars flashing within inches of his shield's coverage area, landing quite a few hits. However, Ichika was far from helpless at close range, having already whittled away half of the twin tailed girl's shield charge with a combination of point blank gunfire and lightning quick energy dagger strikes, while his arm's barrier shield kept the worst of the incoming blows off of him.

While all this was going on, his FEL was focusing on Cecilia, having already blown one of her drones out of the sky, and was almost finished with a second one. While Cecilia's drones were now capable of acting independently thanks to Ichika's upgrade, the controlling AI did not have much experience, and thus the drones were slow and clumsy whenever they weren't under Cecilia's direct control, making them easy targets for Ichika's point defense armament.

A quartet of missiles launched from the Blue Tears promptly altered the face of the battle, with Ichika disengaging from Rin in order to evade, his FEL swiveling to target one of the incoming warheads, detonating it early and causing the other warhead to spiral out of control into the arena wall. Threat eliminated, Ichika fired off a suppressing barrage at Rin as he went in to finish her. Out of the corner of his eye, Ichika saw one of the two missiles heading for Charles detonate in a hail of machine gun fire, while the second missile was knocked off target, zooming around and homing in on its target once again. Charles clearly noticed this, as the Raphael Revive Custom that 'he' was piloting suddenly accelerated towards Houki, dodging to the left at the last second and barely avoiding her incoming strike. Cecilia's missile did not have such evasive properties and promptly slammed into the Uchigane frame that Houki was piloting, while a burst of machine gun fire finished what the missile started, sending the training IS to the ground, its ADS activated.

With Houki eliminated, 'Charles' charged towards Cecilia, weaving through a hail of bright blue energy, dodging most of the incoming fire, but still taking a few hits. However, Cecilia kept her missiles in reserve until the last moment, firing a volley of four warheads once the French blonde was too close to dodge, the Raphael Revive Custom being only a second generation TIS and thus lacking the maneuverability needed to avoid the incoming missiles. Cecilia scored four direct hits, and promptly finished her opponent with a well placed rifle shot, sending Charlotte down to join Houki on the arena floor. That was when another of Cecilia's drones exploded, Ichika's FEL doing its work once again. With only one drone left, Cecilia began to panic, firing everything she had at Ichika, who had just finished Rin and was now charging at her.

As his FEL took care of the incoming missiles, Ichika took aim and fired on the last drone on the field, the blue wedge being replaced by a cloud of smoke and debris a moment later. Dodging the last of Cecilia's fire, Ichika waited until his main gun was pressed against the Blue Tears' energy shield before speaking.

"Any last words?" Ichika asked, smiling.

"Good match!" Cecilia smiled back, before firing off all four of her missiles directly into Ichika's own IS, the resulting explosion setting off both their ADS systems, sending them to the arena floor.

"Alright, looks like another draw." Ichika said, stowing away his IS, while Charles and Rin walked up to him, their IS units already hidden. Houki had clambered out of her Trainer as well, and joined the group.

"Good work everyone. At this rate, all of us are guaranteed to at least reach the semi-finals, provided that we don't end up fighting each other early on." Ichika complimented the girls, who all blushed at his praise, 'Charles' included.

"But we still couldn't beat you, even when you didn't use drones!" Rin complained.

"Ah, but I had a partner with me this time around, and you managed to force a draw." Ichika replied, somewhat comforting the Chinese girl.

"If the three of you couldn't beat a second generation hack and a poorly designed scrapheap with two third generation IS units and an Uchigane, then my victory is assured." A familiar voice called out from the arena entrance. Turning to its source, Ichika saw Laura Bodewig standing encased in a black IS, her face emotionless.

"You're one to talk about poorly designed, Laura. How about you take that overdesigned prototype of yours into the ring and see how long you can last against a real IS suit!" Ichika replied, causing the silver haired girl's eye to twitch as she took aim at him with the oversized railgun on her shoulder. Seeing the threat, Ichika's IS flashed into existence around him, its two shield drones deploying barriers and preventing Laura from having a clear shot.

"Should I begin analysis?" Ori piped up as Ichika took aim at the German representative candidate.

"Not yet. We'll see what she does from here." Ichika replied.

"Hmph. I know what you are trying to make me do, and it will not work. Your IS hacks into and assimilates the data of its opponents, thus allowing you to use their armaments as your own. I will not give you the chance to do so." Laura smirked, before storing away her IS and landing gracefully on the ground.

"I will see you in the arena. If you try to run away, I will kill you." Laura threatened, before turning and exiting the practice area. Icika quickly stowed away his IS and, sighing, turned to the rest of the group.

"I'm sorry, but we'll be cutting practice short today. I have to leave now." He spoke before heading off to the changing rooms. It was after he had finished changing that he remembered the note that Maya had given him two days earlier. He left the changing room and began to walk down to the IS maintenance bays, intent on speaking with a certain quiet blue haired girl.

* * *

 **A/N: And this chapter is FINALLY done. It should have been done two weeks ago, but unfortunately life decided to go and throw a wrench in the middle of things, making it hard for me to work on this. In addition, I had a hard time starting this chapter, and I ended up completely re-writing the beginning from scratch twice, further delaying the project. All in all, I'm not very satisfied with how this chapter turned out, but I'll leave it to you readers to decide on that.**

 **Now, in response to a review from VV that said that the Golems were actually created by Dr. Tabane as a method of evaluating Ichika's skill, I will admit that I missed the line on the wiki that said that, and thus created my own explanation. I knew that Dr. Tabane was involved in the Golem's creation and that it had an unregistered IS core, which led me to the conclusion that Tabane leaked the IS core design to Phantom Task in order to allow them to build the Golem Mk. I. While this does differ from canon, I have no regrets, as this was planned out by me way back when I first posted this fic up. Besides, a fanfic like this should deviate from canon every once in a while, otherwise it would simply be a novelization of Infinite Stratos.**

 **Anyway, now that that's said and done, I hope you enjoy this fic. Read, fav and/or follow, and most importantly, review! It's the reviews that keep me working, after all!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Alright, this chapter is finally out in spite of life doing its utmost to keep me from writing! Any and all feedback is appreciated, as I am pretty sure that the quality of my writing has been dropping, mostly because of me writing part of one scene, being called away, and coming back a day or so later and either A. Trying to continue from where I left off, or B. Deleting and re-starting the section entirely. Both of these outcomes are not good for the story as a whole, so I would appreciate any feedback in that regard, as well as advice for how to remedy this situation, as the only thing that bugs me more than posting a bad chapter is keeping a partially finished chapter in storage for extended periods of time. Anyway, now that that's been said, on with the show!**

 **Chapter 8**

Ichika found Kanzashi in Maintenance Bay 6, working on her IS as always. She had clearly made some progress on her Uchigane refit since he had last seen her, but the IS was clearly still incomplete, as was evidenced by the removed armor plating on the legs, while several manipulator arms worked on the exposed internals. He waited for a few moments by the maintenance bay entrance, the door sliding shut behind him, before walking over to Kanzashi, who was too engrossed in her work to have noticed her.

Casting a critical look over the various monitors, Ichika soon saw what he was looking for.

"Superconductor line D-13 is out of alignment. A particularly violent maneuver or weapon's recoil could knock it out completely and cause an engine malfunction midflight." Ichika said, causing Kanzashi to practically leap out of her chair in shock before looking around, first at the display that showed the problem, and then at Ichika, her eyes narrowing as she did so.

"What are you doing here?" The blue haired girl asked. Her voice was quiet, but she sounded genuinely curious.

"Well, I was honestly wondering if I could help you with your IS. The grade level tournament is coming up after all, and I doubt you want to miss it." Ichika replied.

"So you want to partner up with me?" Kanzashi asked.

"I'm afraid not. Charles needs a partner, and it wouldn't be very nice of me to leave him to the fangirl hordes now would it? Seriously, given how some of those girls act, you would think this is an anime or something!" Ichika replied, earning a small smile from the girl across from him, although she quickly hid it behind her usual emotionless facade.

"Did my sister put you up to this?" Kanzashi asked after composing herself.

"No, she did not. In fact, I think that she would rather I stay away from you, but that's just my humble opinion." Ichika said, and immediately knew that he had indeed said the right thing, as the girl in front of him seemed to relax slightly before sitting back down and turning back to the monitors.

"So which superconductor line did you say was out of alignment again?" Tatenashi asked.

"D-13." Ichika replied, and the problem was soon solved.

It was several minutes later that Kanzashi spoke up again.

"So, is it true that you built your own IS from scratch?" She asked, her eyes not leaving the monitors.

"Yeah, I did." Ichika replied as he scanned the IS for any other issues. He found a few minor ones that he quickly corrected, but nothing else nearly as dangerous as the misaligned superconductor line.

"How long did it take you?" Kanzashi asked.

"It took almost a year between me first designing it and the unit being completely ready, although it only took that long because some of the tech I put into it conflicted with existing equipment, namely the Equalizer and Shift systems, so I had to work around that." Of course, Ichika omitted any mention of the White Pattern IS Core.

"Why would you... Ah, I see now." Kanzashi fell silent after that. The two of them continued to work for several hours, occasionally conversing, but mostly staying silent, engrossed in their work. Eventually though, Ichika stood up, stretching as he did so, before turning to Kanzashi.

"Whew! We managed to get quite a bit done today, didn't we?" Ichika said, smiling.

"Hmm..." Kanzashi looked over the Uchigane refit, her eyes widening as she took in exactly how much the two of them had accomplished.

"This is... At this rate, it might even be ready in time for the tournament!" The blue haired girl exclaimed.

"Exactly. Now, I believe that dinner will be served soon, so we should get to the cafeteria." Ichika turned to leave, but noticed that Kanzashi was not following him.

"I usually eat in here." Kanzashi spoke up, holding up a bento box.

"That can't be good for you. Come on, follow me." Ichika turned away again, only for something to catch his eye. In the corner of the room, he saw the lumpy outline of a sleeping bag and pillow leaning against the wall, along with a teddy bear.

"Don't tell me you sleep in here too!" Ichika exclaimed, pointing at the items in question. Kanzashi followed his pointing finger and blushed in embarrassment as she saw what he was pointing at.

"I-I don't sleep here! Not that often anyway!" Kanzashi denied, waving her hands.

"Being shut in here all day can't be healthy for you. Now come with me." Ichika said, a bit more forcefully.

"But I-"

"No. You are coming out and that's final!" Ichika said, grabbing Kanzashi's hand and pulling her along behind him.

That was how Ichika found himself staring at three girls and one girl in disguise, all of them casting pointed looks at the new arrival.

"Ichika-san! Who is this?" Cecilia was the first to break the silence as she gestured towards Kanzashi, causing the quiet girl to shy away until she was almost completely hidden behind Ichika.

"Yeah Ichika! Who's the new girl?" Rin spoke up, casting a glance at the frightened girl behind him.

"Oh, this is Sarashiki Kanzashi. She's been having problems with her IS, so I decided to help her get ready for the upcoming tournament." Ichika replied, somewhat placating the girls around him.

"Nice to meet you Kanzashi-san!" 'Charles' commented, getting a blush in response from the girl in question.

"W-Well, as long as you remember your promise to me, I don't see a problem with her being here." Houki said after a few moments of awkward silence. Just like that, the tension broke, and soon the group was sitting down around a table, chatting as if nothing had happened.

"So, Kanzashi, are you looking forward to the tournament?" Rin asked from her position on one side of Kanzashi.

"Y-Yes, I think that my IS will be finished by then, so I am looking forward to it!" The blue haired girl stuttered out.

"Wait, your IS is still unfinished? Why wasn't it complete on delivery?" Rin asked again, confusion plain on her face.

"Ah, so that's why your name sounded familiar! You're the Japanese Representative Candidate, aren't you? Didn't your IS get cancelled mid-production in favor of someone else's unit?" Cecilia spoke up, causing the eyes of most of the other girls to widen.

"Y-Yes..." Kanzashi murmured.

"How disgraceful of them! Back in England, they wouldn't have dared to break their word like that!" Cecilia exclaimed, outrage clear on her face.

"I agree. If there's anything I can do to help, then don't hesitate to ask." 'Charles' added.

"Count me in too! I may not know much about building an IS, but if there's anything I can do for you, then all you need to do is ask!" Rin exclaimed, clapping the now blushing Kanzashi on her back.

"W-Well..." The younger Sarashiki was clearly unused to this kind of attention, so Ichika spoke up for her.

"If we need something, then we'll make sure to tell you." Ichika spoke, earning himself a grateful smile from the shy girl.

Dinner was soon finished, and the group soon went their separate ways, with Ichika and Kanzashi heading back to Maintenance Bay 6 to get some more work done on the Uchigane Nishiki, while the rest of the girls headed off to their respective rooms. However, as Ichika walked down the path to the maintenance bay, he noticed that he and Kanzashi were not alone. Looking around, he saw a familiar silver haired girl a fair distance behind them. A quick partial deployment of his hyper-sensor allowed him to get a closer look at Laura, who appeared to be supervising the transport of a large metal crate, its contents unknown.

Allowing Kanzashi to walk a few feet ahead of him, he quickly called up Ori.

"Ori, can you figure out what's in that crate?" Ichika asked, his voice barely audible even to himself.

'No. No active electronics are present there for me to access.' Ori replied over the watch, and Ichika sighed, before quickly catching up with Kanzashi.

When they arrived at the maintenance bay, Ichika motioned for the blue haired girl to go ahead, while he stayed outside. Once the door slid shut, he quickly spoke to his AI again.

"Ori, can you get into the maintenance bay security cameras and find out what's in that box?" Ichika asked.

"Of course I can! I'll report back to you as soon as you're alone." At that, Ori's avatar disappeared from the watch screen, and Ichika headed into the maintenance bay, where Kanzashi had already gotten back to work on her IS.

* * *

The sun was low in the sky by the time Ichika left the maintenance bay, while Kanzashi remained inside, wanting to quickly finish her unit's particle cannons. As soon as he was alone, Ori's avatar shimmered into existence, and made its report, complete with several holographic images of the box and its contents, which turned out to be a large ovoid pod.

"It's just ECM equipment, nothing you need to worry about. It looks like Laura's decided to modify her IS to resist hacking attempts." The AI reported.

"Can it keep you out?" Ichika asked.

"Of course not! Against me, it would be like a stone castle wall trying to keep out an IS! The only thing that can stop me is another AI, and as long as I stay away from Laura's IS core, it will not be an issue." Ichika smiled at that.

"I thought so. Is Laura still in there?" He asked, gesturing towards the maintenance bay doors.

"No, she was just there to supervise the delivery. She left an hour ago." Ori replied.

"That's good to know." Ichika commented as he headed off towards the dormitories.

"Why? Are you planning something?"

"No, just trying to avoid an unnecessary confrontation." Ichika replied. "Speaking of unnecessary, you really should deactivate that avatar before it draws attention."

"Aww, you're no fun!" Ori complained, before her hologram shimmered out of existence.

Ichika continued to walk in silence until a familiar voice drew his attention just outside the dormitory building.

"... Instructor? Instructor, please answer me! Why are you teaching in a place like this?" Ichika heard Laura's voice in the distance. It was obvious who the other member of the conversation was. Sitting down on a conveniently placed bench, Ichika pulled out his datapad whilst simultaneously partially deploying his hyper-sensor array. Immediately, the conversation became clear.

"Don't make me repeat myself. I have a duty here that I must fulfill. That is all." Chifuyu replied from where she was standing.

"A duty? Here, in this far eastern place? Please, Instructor, I need you! Please, come teach me again in Germany! This place can't even properly utilize half of your capabilities!" Ichika heard Laura beg from her position beside his sister.

"Oh?" Chifuyu barely even glanced at Laura, and Ichika smiled inwardly. He knew that Chifuyu never responded to begging like that."

"Please Instructor! The students in this school are not worthy of you! They have no sense of crisis! They mistake the IS as some sort of fashion statement! Seeing you forced to share your time with people like that-" Ichika honestly couldn't fault the girl for her frustration, after all, she was telling the truth. To most of the students in IS Academy, the IS was, indeed, little more than a shiny toy for them to use in glamorous tournaments, rather than the weapon of war it actually was. However, Chifuyu evidently had something to say on the matter, and quickly cut the silver haired girl off.

"That is enough, little girl. In my absence, you've become more than a little arrogant. Honestly, I pity you. Here you are, acting like a chosen one at age 15, but to me you only sound like a hypocrite."

"B-But- I-I'm-" Laura stuttered, but Chifuyu cut her off.

"You claim that the students here mistake the IS for a fashion statement, and you're guilty of the exact same thing."

"W-What do you mean?"

"Earlier today, in the practice arena, you told my younger brother exactly what you thought of his IS, complete with your analysis of his unit's ability. In that manner, you are no different than the little girls who scream out vital information about their IS units in the middle of battle."

"But-"

"But nothing. The odds weren't in your favor to begin with, and you only tipped them further in his favor, and continue to do so by underestimating him."

"How can the odds possibly be in his favor? He has no combat experience, only a month of formal training, and two tournament matches total! How-" Chifuyu didn't let the German girl finish.

"My brother is not a gambler, did you know that? He only ever makes a bet if he is completely certain of the outcome beforehand. He doesn't think he can beat you, he knows he can do so. Besides, what you said about him was merely the official story. I highly doubt that even he can perform as he does with only one month of formal training under his belt." Chifuyu said.

"What? How much training does he have then?" Laura asked, shock clear in her voice.

"That is his secret to tell. Not even I know the truth of what he's been doing for the past five years, only that he came out with a very effective IS and prodigious amount of skill in the field of IS design, as well as some... secrets." Chifuyu's voice turned contemplative at the end, and Ichika could tell that she was talking more to herself than to Laura.

"Then I will find out for you! I will discover his every secret and-" Laura was suddenly cut off by a clearly angry Chifuyu, while Ichika had stood up and began to make his way over to the pair, intent on derailing the conversation as soon as possible.

"You will do no such thing! Ichika's secrets are his to keep, just like my secrets are my own." Chifuyu growled out to a very shocked Laura, just as Ichika came close enough for the German girl to notice.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Ichika asked as he walked up to the pair, causing his older sister to turn to face him while Laura scowled.

"How long have you been listening?" Chifuyu asked, clearly amused.

"Long enough. I'm curious though, regarding what you said about odds. Is there actually a betting pool on my battle with Bodewig-san?" Ichika asked.

"It's traditional. How else do you think we teachers make most of our money?" Chifuyu replied.

"What are the odds?" Ichika asked, genuinely curious.

"Last I checked, they were twenty to one in your favor for when you fight Laura, and I believe it's three to one for you winning the tournament."

"W-What?" Laura choked out.

"Don't worry, Ichika, my money is on you." Chifuyu smirked at Laura's flabbergasted expression.

"Well then, I guess that I'm even more motivated to win now." Ichika replied.

"Hmph!" At that, Laura turned and stormed away, leaving Ichika alone with his sister.

"So, is there anything you wish to say to me now that we're alone?" Chifuyu asked.

"Nothing, really, other than a thank-you for sparing me from additional attention on Laura's part." Ichika replied as he leaned against a tree.

"Really? Nothing else? No questions about Laura, or how she fights, or, well, anything?" Chifuyu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I probably have the best spy network in the school at my disposal, thanks to the... nature of the students here. I know that she's part of the German military, that she practices in training arena 8, and that her IS unit is armed with a heavy railgun, six wire guided daggers, and hand mounted energy blade generators. In addition to those, the Schwarzer Regen is also equipped with an Active Inertia Canceller, or AIC, which can block almost any form of attack that relies on kinetic energy, but it can only operate over a limited area. The AIC is likely also unable to block directed energy weapons like lasers, which is evident due to the fact that visible light can go through the barrier. As the AIC barrier is one-way, Laura is capable of firing through it with ease, while her opponents cannot do the same. Right now, I can think of two ways that I can beat her in a one on one battle, and that number only goes up when I factor in my partner."

"You've certainly thought this through. Remember though, that Laura will have a partner as well." Chifuyu cautioned.

"From what I know of Laura, she will likely believe that she can win every battle on her own, and thus not pick out a partner that compliments her, instead having her partner selected at random and ordering them to stay out of her way. She does not seem to be well versed in teamwork, although I could be wrong, given her military training." Ichika replied, and Chifuyu laughed.

"That description certainly fits her. She was raised in a highly competitive environment that assessed its inhabitants on an individual basis, after all, so she is somewhat lacking in the teamwork department. While she knows the theory, she has next to no practice in that regard, that much was evident back in Germany, as well as just now."

"I see... Anyway, I should really go now. I'm sure that I've taken up enough of your time. See you tomorrow, Chifuyu-nee!" Ichika smiled, before heading off to the dormitory building.

"It's Orimura-sensei!" Chifuyu called out, trying to sound stern, but Ichika could tell that her heart wasn't in it.

* * *

Ichika soon made his way to room 1025, hearing the shower running as he entered.

"I'm back! Charles, are you in there?" Ichika asked, setting his things down on the bed. Then he remembered the bottle of body soap that he'd requisitioned earlier to replenish his supply. Checking in the closet, he saw the bottle was still there.

Picking it up, Ichika walked over to the shower and, steeling himself for the upcoming awkwardness, opened the door.

"Hey Charles, we're all out of body soap, right? I've got some more right... here..." Ichika trailed off as 'Charles' opened the shower door. Knowing what to expect did not make the moment of discovery any less awkward, after all.

Ichika blinked once, then twice. The girl across from him did the same, before squeaking and hiding herself behind the shower door..

"So, Charlotte, here's the body soap..." Ichika trailed off as the girl in question quickly snatched the bottle out of his hand.

"T-Thank you..." The beet red girl stuttered out.

"No problem..." Ichika said as he backed out of the room. As the door slid shut, Ichika let out a long sigh.

"Called it."

Nearly an hour passed before Charlotte exited the shower and walked to her bed, staring straight ahead as she sat down.

"So..." Ichika began, causing the blonde girl to gasp in surprise. "How about I make us some tea before we discuss this."

"Y-Yeah, that sounds nice..." Charlotte murmured, firmly avoiding his gaze.

Soon, two cups of hot tea were placed on the table in the room, with Ichika sitting on one side, while Charlotte hesitantly took a seat on the other.

"So... um..." Charlotte began, but Ichika soon cut her off.

"Don't worry, I knew for a while. I just wanted to get it out in the open, at least between us." Ichika said, causing the French girl to blush.

"Y-You mean you knew I was a girl before you walked in on me?" Charlotte asked, her face beet red.

"Yes..." Ichika replied.

"Ichika no ecchi..." Charlotte's blush deepened.

"Ah... I guess I deserved that. Anyway, all I really want to know is why. Why did you pretend to be a boy when you entered the academy?" Ichika asked.

"Well... It's what my father ordered me to do."

"You mean Raphael Dunois?"

"Yes. As you know, he's the president of the Dunois Corporation. It was on his orders that I did this."

"What do you mean? Why did he do it?"

"Well... It's mainly because I'm not his wife's daughter. You see, my mother raised me away from him, but when she died two years ago, I was taken to the Dunois Corporation. They ran some tests on me, and discovered that I have a very high IS compatibility score, so I was made an unofficial test pilot. During all this time, I've only met my father twice. We haven't even spent an hour talking to each other." Charlotte paused for a few moments, before continuing on.

"Anyway, the Dunois Corporation soon began to fall behind its competitors. Even though it was the third largest producer of IS units in the world, it lagged behind regarding the production of third-gen IS suits, as the Revive, which was the main reason behind the corporation's success, was a second generation machine. After all, the new third generation will soon render the second obsolete. That's why people like Cecilia-san and Laura-san are here, after all. They're supposed to gather trial data for their third-gen IS units that have already been built, and while the Dunois Corporation has began its own research in that regard, it is still lagging very far behind. At this rate, their development rights will be revoked and handed to another company."

"But what does that have to do with you pretending to be a boy?" Ichika asked.

"Simple: I'm supposed to gain publicity. Plus, as a boy, I can get close to the irregular case that occurred in Japan, and from that position, I can gather information on the machine that he uses. That's right, I was told to spy on you, under orders from my father." At that, Charlotte smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

"It feels good to get that off my chest. Thank you for listening to me, and I'm sorry for lying to you until now." Charlotte sighed again, no longer smiling.

"Are you alright with that?" Ichika asked after a few seconds.

"What do you mean?" Charlotte asked as Ichika walked over to her bed and sat down beside her, causing her to gasp slightly when he turned her head to face him.

"Are you really alright with what your father has done to you?" Ichika asked again.

"Well, he is the only family I have left, and-" Ichika cut the French girl off before she could continue.

"I have one mother and one father. Without them, I would not exist. However, I have no parents. You see, they abandoned me soon after I was born, and Chifuyu-nee hasn't even told me their names."

"W-What?"

"You know, if my mother was to walk into this room, at this very moment, and order me to do something, I would simply ignore her. She wasn't there for me when I was a child, so she has no right calling herself my mother, just like your father wasn't there for you, so he has no right to that title! Therefore, he has absolutely no right to order you to do anything!"

"Ichika..." Charlotte gasped.

"So now you have a choice. Will you continue this charade for him? Or will you abandon him like he abandoned you and live your own life out of his shadow?" Ichika asked.

"W-Well... Since my status as a girl has been revealed, I'll most likely be called back to France. From there, I don't know what will happen. I'll most likely end up in prison. It has been nice though, being here with you, and Cecilia-san, and Rin-san, and Houki-san... I'll miss you." Ichika saw the tears gathering in the blonde's eyes, despite the smile that she was evidently struggling to keep on her face.

"Then why leave? All I have to do is keep my mouth shut, and all our problems are gone! Not to mention that even if your status was revealed, it would mean nothing, as neither your father nor his company can do anything about it! After all, the IS Academy is independent from all nations in order to provide an unbiased training environment. This means that, as long as you are enrolled here, you are not a part of the Dunois Corporation, and thus they are unable to intervene for the next three years."

"But what about after that? Once those three years are up, I'll be forced to return!"

"Ah... Regarding that, I have ways of keeping your father off your back once you graduate." Ichika replied.

"What? How?" Charlotte exclaimed.

"I am presently not at liberty to divulge any more information regarding those ways."

"Oh..." Charlotte quickly wiped the tears off her face before turning back to Ichika.

"Thank you, Ichika. Thank you for everything!" The blonde girl leaned into him, and soon the pair were locked together, arms wrapped gently around each other. Ichika noticed that the zipper on Charlotte's jacket had lowered a little, revealing some of her rather generous cleavage, but he wisely refused to comment, instead concentrating on the rest of the girl in his arms.

A knock on the door, however, caused the pair to spring apart, blushing as they did so.

"Ichika, are you in there?" Tatenashi's voice called out.

"Charlotte, get under the covers and pretend to be sick. I'll handle this." With those words, Ichika stood up and walked to the door. However, as soon as it was opened, he was grabbed and dragged out of the room, the door being shut behind him. Quickly breaking the hand off his collar, Ichika found himself staring into the eyes of a rather angry Tatenashi.

"Come with me. Now." The girl ordered, before grabbing his hand and dragging him along behind her. After about a minute of following behind the furious blue haired girl, Ichika suddenly came to a stop when Tatenashi threw open the door to her room and dragged him inside, slamming the door behind her.

"So, what is all this about?" Ichika asked once the girl had let go of him, causing Tatenashi's eyes to narrow.

"You know damn well what I am talking about. What the hell are you trying to pull with my sister?" Tatenashi growled out.

"I was simply helping her with the construction of her IS. Given the progress we made today, I believe that we can be finished in time for-" Ichika began, but Tatenashi cut him off mid-sentence.

"Bullshit! You're trying to press her into the Organization, aren't you!"

"Of course I am. Weren't you listening back in the storeroom where we first recruited you? We were already planning to induct her before you joined us, your presence changes nothing."

"Dammit, you will leave my sister out of this! Why do you think I joined you in the first place?"

"You have no say in this matter. I have my orders, and I intend to carry them out."

"So if they ordered you to jump off a cliff, you would do it?" Ichika's eye twitched at that.

"You know what I mean. I have been ordered to befriend and assist your sister in order to provide her with a friendly face once she is inducted, and I intend to do just that."

"And that is something I cannot let you do. Ever since she was born, I took it upon myself to keep her safe, and that is exactly what I intend to do."

"Don't make me pull rank Tatenashi. If you keep this up, I can have you held for insubordination." Ichika's face was grim as he said that.

"Fine! Do whatever you want to me, but if you so much as lay a hand on Kanzashi, I will-" Ichika spoke up again, interrupting Tatenashi's rant.

"You know, for someone so concerned for her sister's safety, you seem surprisingly eager to leave her out in the open at the head of a now defunct organization with a giant target on her back."

"And would shoving her on the front lines of a secret war be any better?"

"Tatenashi-san, your sister was on the front lines of that war ever since she was born! Sooner or later, Phantom Task will find out that the Sarashiki family isn't quite as dead as they would like it to be, and they will come back and try to finish the job! Even though the family as an organization is long since dead, you and your sister are both loose ends that they would rather eliminate. You are already part of something bigger that can take them on, but your sister is not! Will you be able to protect her if you are deployed on a long term mission while they come for her? Of course not, so let me bring her into this."

The room was silent after Ichika had finished speaking. For a long moment, the silence dragged on as Tatenashi stood in the middle of the room, fists clenched as she tried to think of a response. Finally, the blue haired girl sighed and broke the silence.

"Fine. But please, keep her out of active combat duty. She's all I have left of my family and if the worst happens..." Tatenashi trailed off, blinking rapidly in an attempt to stop herself from crying.

"I cannot guarantee that she won't ever be placed on active combat duty. Her status as Japan's representative candidate all but cements her eventual placement there." Ichika replied, causing Tatenashi to grimace.

"Then what can you do? Is your rank in the organization just an empty title meant to inflate your ego?" That actually caused Ichika to laugh.

"Pretty much. I was only given the title of IS Wing Commander because there was nobody else available to take the position, and it would take too much time to train another candidate. I haven't led any real operations, nor do I even really have anyone serving under me aside from you. The only times I've ever commanded someone was when I led a few training flight of rookie IS pilots around the base, so there is no way that I can keep your sister off the active combat roster should command decide to place her there. However..." Ichika paused to think for a few moments.

"What? What can you do?" Tatenashi asked.

"However, I do believe that I can ensure that she will, for the time being, be placed on the reserve combat roster. I'm in a similar situation, after all, as I likely won't be placed on active combat duty until I graduate from IS academy. The same will likely be done with Kanzashi, with her being placed in reserves until her graduation."

"I see..." Tatenashi sighed at that. "I guess that's all I'm going to get out of you."

"I will try to keep Kanzashi safe, but I cannot promise anything more than that." Ichika replied. Tatenashi was silent for a few moments, before she sighed once again and sat down on the bed.

"Very well then, Ichika, I guess I have to let you recruit my sister into a secret global paramilitary organization that is currently waging a secret war against the largest terrorist organization in the world. However, before you leave this room, I want you to promise me something." Tatenashi's already solemn face grew even more so.

"What is it?" Ichika asked.

"You know that I've chosen to work in the Intel department, right?" The blue haired girl asked.

"What of it?"

"Ichika, during my time at Organization HQ, I saw some of the casualty reports from our operations in Eastern Europe... They were not pretty to say the least. I want you to promise me, right now, that you will do whatever it takes to make sure that Kanzashi does not end up as another name on one of those lists. I don't care what you have to do, just please, keep my little sister alive, no matter the cost!" Tears were once again starting to form in Tatenashi's eyes as she looked up at Ichika, who answered without hesitation.

"That is something that I can guarantee. I promise that I will do everything in my power to protect Kanzashi... and I always keep my promises." Tatenashi smiled through her tears when she heard those words.

"Thank you, Ichika... just please, don't break your promise. I've already lost the rest of my family, and to lose her..." The older girl trailed off as Ichika sat down beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder as he did so.

"Don't worry, Tatenashi-san, as I already said, I keep my promises." That caused the blue haired girl to laugh.

"Then I suppose I should congratulate you on the engagement!" That in turn caused Ichika's eyes to widen.

"H-Hey! I didn't know what Rin meant when she said that! And how do you know about that anyway?" Ichika stuttered out. In response, Tatenashi drew out a fan and snapped it open, revealing the words 'Intelligence Officer' on it.

"Take a wild guess." The blue haired girl laughed.

"I should have known. Anyway, I should get going. Dunois-san is sick, so I should be getting back to him." Ichika said as he stood up.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that she will understand." Tatenashi replied, causing Ichika's eyes to widen slightly.

"Don't act so surprised, Ichika! It wasn't that hard to figure out, even without the dossiers' help! Don't worry though, I won't expose your friend, I'm not that kind of person." Tatenashi finished, smiling, as Ichika shook his head and left the room. As he closed the door behind him, he didn't notice the smile on Tatenashi's face melt away.

"I hope you know what you are doing, Ichika." The blue haired girl muttered as she lay down on her bed. That night sleep did not come easily for Sarashiki Tatenashi, her dreams being full of the memories that conversation had brought back.

* * *

The next few weeks passed by in a whirl of activity, as the various IS academy students prepared for the coming tournament. Ichika had declared 'Charles' to be his partner, much to the disappointment of a horde of anonymous fangirls, and the two of them had continued to train regularly after class alongside Rin, Cecilia and Houki. Cecilia and Rin had decided to partner up as well, leaving Houki alone, the Japanese girl resigning herself to having her partner chosen for her.

Training and class time aside, Ichika spent every waking moment in the IS maintenance bays, working on the Uchigane Niishiki with Kanzashi. The blue haired girl had partnered up with Honne Nohotoke, one of Ichika's classmates, and had begun training for the tournament using one of the school's Raphael Revives in place of her personal unit.

Kanzashi's IS was finally completed two days before the start of the tournament, and Ichika soon found himself in the arena, facing down against Honne and Kanzashi as part of a stress test of the Uchigane Niishiki's capabilities.

"Everything looks fine so far! No problems with the flight system!" Kanzashi called down to Ichika from the roof of the arena, where she was currently hovering.

"No surprise there, considering how much we tested it already!" Ichika called back from where he hovered just above the ground, his IS deployed around him.

"Well then, shall we get on with it?" The Japanese representative candidate asked.

"Yes, please, I didn't come here just to watch you guys run some tests!" Honne chipped in.

"Alright. Let's start the match!" Ichika replied, taking aim at Honne while the two girls formed up together.

"Let's go!" Honne shouted, signalling the start of the practice match, only to immediately dodge out of the way of a burst of plasma. However, Ichika couldn't follow up on his attack as a swarm of missiles erupted from the wings of Kanzashi's IS, the warheads spreading out before converging on his position. A high pitched whine indicated the FEL locking on to one of the incoming warheads, and an explosion moments later signaled the missile's destruction. However, there were far too many warheads for the laser to eliminate, forcing him dodge out of the way, firing at Kanzashi as he did so. Even then, one of the missiles clipped him, while the rest simply looped around and zoomed towards him again. Fortunately for him, this clumped the missiles together in one group, and a single explosive drone detonating in their midst was enough to eliminate the threat. Bringing his weapon to bear once more, he took aim at the nearest target, which happened to be Honne, the girl dodging the first few shots, but several jets of plasma slammed into her shields, knocking her off course and sending her plummeting to the ground. However, Ichika was once again unable to press his advantage as a barrage of particle beam shots forced him to stop shooting and concentrate on Kanzashi once more.

"Don't ignore me Ichika! It's my IS we're testing here!" Kanzashi called out as she fired off another barrage of missiles, the projectiles forcing Ichika to stay on the defensive. That was when a group of knife missiles materialized over his shoulders and shot towards the missile swarm, the homing systems switching targets and locking on to the drones, which drew the missiles away from Ichika and towards Honne, who had recovered from her dive and was climbing back into the air to rejoin the fray. Suddenly, the missiles looped around and shot back at Ichika, although the drones continued along their course, keeping Honne occupied with evading them.

Dodging out of the way of the missile swarm, Ichika saw Kanzashi hovering high above him, the girl's attention focused on an array of holographic screens projected in front of her. Evidently, she had assumed manual control of the missiles once she saw how Ichika had diverted them. However, that move had left her immobile, as all her attention was focused on directing her weaponry.

Taking aim even as he dodged, Ichika fired a burst up towards her, more intent on getting her attention than actually hitting her. The ploy worked, as Kanzashi was forced to relinquish control of the missiles, just in time for Ichika to release several more explosive drones. The missile swarm locked on to them, and barely a second later a series of immense detonations shook the arena as the sky was cleared of explosives.

Casting a quick glance at Honne, who was still fighting against the swarm of drones, Ichika zoomed up at Kanzashi, blazing away with his dual barreled plasma rifle as he did so. Kanzashi sped away, flying as erratically as she could in order to evade the incoming barrage of plasma. As she did so, the particle beam cannons mounted on her IS unit's waist swiveled around and returned fire, their electronic targeting systems locking on to the Infinite Arsenal, and released a barrage of accurate fire that splashed over the barriers deployed by Ichika's shield drones. That in turn caused the cannons to adjust and open fire on the drones themselves, slowly drawing the shield drones away from Ichika, creating an opening in his guard that Kanzashi could exploit. Suddenly reversing direction, Kanzashi shot down towards IChika, activating her unit's Ignition Boost as she did so, and in a blink of an eye crossed the distance between the two of them. Thrusting forward with her energy halberd, Kanzashi slammed into Ichika, their two IS units plummeting out of the sky, while Ichika's shield began to rapidly drop from the attack.

Suddenly, a black drone appeared between the two IS units in a flash of light, its built in plasma cannon already pointed at its target. Startled by the drone's appearance, Kanzashi broke away, just barely evading the drone's shot as she did so, allowing Ichika to slow his descent until he was once again hovering just above the ground.

"I guess everything is in working order on your end!" He called out as he once again aimed his weapon at the blue haired girl's IS.

"It's all working perfectly! Thanks Ichika!" Kanzashi replied as she opened fire with her particle beam cannons, the blasts once again slamming into the shield drones' hexagonal barriers.

"That's good to know. It also means I can stop holding back for fear of causing damage!" Ichika replied... Right before an Uchigane's Katana slammed into his back, causing red warning lights to fill his helmet. Cursing, Ichika turned around to see Honne, her IS unit clearly having taken a beating, raising her weapon for another strike. Activating his wrist mounted shield, Ichika blocked the incoming blow while simultaneously bringing his gun to bear, swinging the weapon around until the barrel was touching his opponent's energy shield. A long burst of plasma later, and the Uchigane's ADS engaged, knocking Honne out of the fight. Ichika realized too late that it was all part of her plan, as a volley of particle beam fire hit him from behind, courtesy of Kanzashi. Dodging out of the way of a second volley, Ichika turned to face his remaining opponent, seeing his two shield drones lying on the ground, their shields having been overwhelmed and their frames destroyed while he was busy eliminating Honne.

Quickly checking his shield levels, Ichika saw that his energy shield was almost entirely depleted. Had this been an actual battle, Ichika would have switched off his ADS in order to allow his shield to recharge, but as this was a tournament style duel, it meant that he was one hit away from losing, a fact that Kanzashi seemed all too keen to remind him of.

Quickly deploying a curtain of knife missiles, Ichika retreated, creating a second group of beam drones as he tried to get some distance from his opponent. Said opponent, however, was none too keen on allowing him to get away, as a point blank missile volley quickly eliminated the knife missiles, damaging her shield in the process. Weaving her way though a barrage of plasma with her guns blazing and her halberd raised, Kanzashi shot towards him, a second ignition boost allowing her to catch him, his wrist mounted shield barely coming up in time to block her weapon's strike. However, that left him open to her particle beam cannons, which fired just as he fired off another volley from his plasma gun.

A blaring siren signaled his ADS engaging, while Kanzashi stepped back from her downed opponent and dismounted her IS. Storing away his own unit, Ichika stood up, smiling at the blue haired girl who had just defeated him.

"Great job Kanzashi-chan! Your first time fighting in that IS and you managed to beat me!" Ichika exclaimed, causing the girl to blush at the praise.

"W-Well, it's not like I did all the work. If it weren't for Honne-chan sneaking up on you, I doubt I could have beaten you. Plus, you were holding back in case something went wrong with my machine." Kanzashi replied as Honne walked up to the group.

"You did great anyway Kan-chan! When I distracted him, you destroyed his shield drones and took him out! We worked together, and we beat him, and that's what matters!" Honne complimented her partner.

"I know that... Say, Ichika, how were you holding back anyway? You knocked out Honne without even trying and you almost got me too. One more hit from that plasma cannon and I would have been knocked out as well." Kanzashi asked.

"Well, you remember the drones I sent at you, right? Well, my IS can control about a hundred of them without any impact on its performance. I can control more as well, but that would force me to divert my attention to directing them. Plus, I didn't use my copying system to assimilate your IS unit's technology, that would just be unsporting of me." Ichika replied, mentally adding that he didn't use any of Ori's abilities to assist him.

"Ah... I see." Kanzashi looked somewhat crestfallen at that revelation, so Ichika continued.

"I still hold back when I'm training with the rest of the girls though, and they've only managed to defeat me three times so far, so don't sell yourself short Kanzashi. As Cecilia is so fond of saying, you're a representative candidate. That alone means you've got the skills of an elite pilot! Now, let's go and look over your IS, I want to make sure everything is still in working order. After that, I think I'll leave you to practice with Nohotoke-san. After all, with the tournament coming up, I wouldn't want to take up too much of your time!" With those words, Ichika turned to leave the arena, pausing to look and see if Kanzashi was following him. The blue haired girl was right behind him, having stowed away her IS before walking after him while Honne brought up the rear.

As expected, the inspection of the IS revealed no glaring flaws or damage, so Ichika left the pair to their own devices. After a few moments of thought, he headed up to the office where Maya was currently grading the latest tests that the class had submitted. Arriving at the office, he knocked three times, paused, and knocked twice more to let Maya know exactly who was standing outside.

"Come in, Orimura-kun." The green haired teacher called out as the door slid open, and Ichika complied.

"So, what is it you want to talk about? I'm afraid that I don't have any presents for you from R&D... Speaking of which, have you finished your evaluation of the MPTIS units yet?" Maya asked once the door had closed.

"I have already submitted it. However, that's not what I'm here for. I just wanted to let you know that Kanzashi's IS is completed, and I was just wondering when we will finally be recruiting her." Ichika replied.

"I see... I was thinking of doing so immediately after the tournament. Why do you want to know? Has something come up?" Maya asked.

"No, nothing of the sort. I was just curious."

"I understand. I will brief you fully right before we contact her, but for now I'm still working out some of the minor details myself."

"How hard can it be to ask her to join us?"

"Oh it can be very difficult. It's not like just asking a favor of someone, you are asking someone to commit their entire life to a cause they are completely unsure about. I have to understand how the target thinks, how they feel about the various things they will be involved in as a member. In the end, I have to plan things out down to the very things she will say, and how I will respond to them. After all, I'd rather avoid wiping the memory of someone because they decided not to join!" Maya finished, smiling.

"I see. I'll leave you to it then." Ichika replied after a few moments, before turning and leaving the room. He leaned against the wall for a few moments, just processing what had just been said. In hindsight, he really shouldn't have been surprised by what Maya had said, as his own recruiter had said quite a few things that he wouldn't have known without some extensive digging into his past, but still...

After a few moments, Ichika shook his head and stood up, heading down to the cafeteria, where dinner would soon be served. In the end, he thought, it didn't matter how he was recruited, only that he had joined the right cause.

* * *

Dinner was a rather quiet affair, although it was a silence of anticipation. After all, the students who had not yet chosen a partner would soon find out exactly who had been chosen for them. Most students had already finished eating by the time the official announcement was made by a rather enthusiastic sounding Tatenashi, who posted the list of pairs for the grade level tournament on the wall. As soon as the student council president had left, the unpaired students crowded around the list, eager to see who they would be working with. Houki was one of those students, Ichika following her to see who she would be partnered with. Looking at the list, Ichika saw his own name alongside Charles Dunois, as well as Cecilia's name next to Rin's. His eyes continued to scroll down the list, spotting Honne and Kanzashi together before they came to rest on Shinonono Houki and... Ichika heard Houki stifle a gasp when she saw exactly who she would be partnered with.

The name by Houki's was none other than Laura Bodewig. Looking around, Ichika saw the silver haired girl staring up at the list. A few moments passed before she looked over at Houki, her features morphing into an expression of distaste.

"Hmph." The silver haired girl simply snorted before she turned away and left the cafeteria.

"Don't worry Houki. If worst comes to worst, I'll take care of it." Ichika smiled at the still shellshocked girl, breaking her out of her stupor.

"It's not that... It's just that if I win, you'll end up losing the bet you made with her!" Houki exclaimed.

"Our bet hinges on me defeating her. It doesn't matter if you beat me afterwards, although this doesn't mean I will hold back on you." Ichika replied, causing the Japanese girl to smile.

"Don't worry. I'll beat you no matter how you come at me!" That in turn brought a smile to Ichika's face.

"That's more like it Houki. We should get back to our seats though, or our food might get cold." That was the que for the two of them to head back to their table, where Cecilia, Rin and 'Charles' all sat, eagerly awaiting the identity of Houki's partner.

"So, Shinonono-san, who is it?" 'Charles' was the first to speak.

"Yeah! Who's your partner?" Rin asked.

"It's Laura." Houki replied simply.

"Oh... It must have been quite a shock to find that out!" 'Charles' said after a few moments' pause, voice filled with sympathy.

"How unfortunate... I was hoping to crush her early on in the tournament, but now that you are her partner..." Cecilia trailed off.

"Don't worry. I will be sure to succeed in spite of her." Houki replied simply, but Ichika could tell that she was still very concerned.

"If you have a problem, don't hesitate to come to me." Ichika said, putting a hand on her shoulder and causing her to blush at the contact.

The rest of dinner passed by quickly, as did the rest of the day. Before Ichika knew it, he found himself falling asleep in his room. However, the silence was broken when Charlotte spoke up from the nearby bed.

"Ichika, are you awake?" The French girl asked.

"What is it Charlotte?" Ichika replied.

"Well... I just wanted to say thank you..."

"What for?"

"For everything really... For keeping my secret, for partnering up with me... And for being my friend. You're a really good friend, you know that?"

"Charlotte?"

"Ah, it's nothing... Goodnight Ichika!" With those words, Charlotte fell silent, leaving Ichika to fall asleep as well. However, he couldn't help but feel that Charlotte had meant to say something else as well.

* * *

The next morning passed by in a whirl of activity as students made last minute preparations for the tournament, reserved practice areas for later in the day, and, most of all, gossiped.

"I'm telling you, it's true! The winner of the tournament gets to date Orimura Ichika-kun!" The boy in question heard as he entered the classroom. As soon as he did so, the room fell silent, before the chatter started up again. Eventually, Chifuyu shut the class up and began to teach as usual.

The rest of the school day passed by as normal, although once school had ended the IS Academy once again became a hub of activity as students ran off to practice or to prepare. Ichika was heading off to the practice arena he had reserved with Charlotte when he heard a trio of girls run by.

"I heard that three representative candidates are having a battle in Arena Three!" One of them called out.

"What? Really?" Another asked as they continued to run.

"Yeah! I heard that German girl was one of them!" The first girl replied, drawing Ichika's attention.

"Change of plans Charles, we're going to Arena Three." Ichika replied, running after the girls, the French girl right behind him. They arrived just in time to see a massive explosion obscure the arena, Houki running up behind them. Evidently, she had heard the news as well.

"It's Fan-san and Alcott-san!" 'Charles' exclaimed as the dust cleared, revealing the ShenLong and Blue Tears hovering in front of a crater in the ground, facing Laura in the Schwarzer Regen.

"Take this!" Rin screamed, opening fire with her Impact Cannons. However, Laura merely laughed and a shimmering field appeared in front of her, catching the incoming fire. Laura simply laughed.

"That is useless against the power of the Schwarzer Regen!" The German girl mocked as the dust settled. However, Ichika could tell that Rin had not intended for that shot to hit, and was merely probing her opponent's defenses.

"So that's the AIC..." 'Charles' mused from beside him.

"That's it... Since she's using it, she isn't even thinking of evading..." Houki commented.

"Interesting... I wonder, is it simply a modified PIC or is it something entirely new?" Ichika wondered.

"I don't know... but it certainly is effective." 'Charles' replied.

"It completely negates the movement of any mass... A perfect defensive weapon." Houki said.

"It's not perfect." Ichika replied as he watched Cecilia and Rin continue to probe their opponent's defenses.

"What do you mean?" Houki asked.

"It does not negate all movement. If it truly did so, it would cool the area it is affecting to absolute zero, and that is clearly not the case. A laser might be able to get through, although I have no concrete proof... yet." Ichika replied as he watched Rin stop shooting, followed closely by Cecilia.

"Let's drown her in tears Cecilia, just like we practiced." Rin said after a few moments' thought.

"I was just thinking the exact same thing!" Cecilia exclaimed, and promptly launched her four beam drones, the bits quickly surrounding Laura, who quickly took off and began to dodge the incoming fire. Then Cecilia launched a barrage of four missiles, simultaneously opening fire with her rifle, while Rin went around and added her own firepower to the mix.

"Another apparent flaw in the AIC is that it seems to only cover a limited area. Attacks from multiple directions, like what Cecilia is doing, cannot be effectively blocked simultaneously. Her IS can attack from five separate directions, nine if you count the missiles, and Rin brings the total up to ten. Laura cannot effectively cover all those avenues of attack at once." Ichika watched as Laura ducked, weaved, and blocked her way through the incoming barrage. He had to give the girl some credit, she was clearly a very skilled pilot, but in spite of her skill, a few shots got through.

After one such hit, Laura clearly decided that it was time to change tactics. Mid dodge, her IS suddenly released six wire guided daggers, which shot towards Rin, chasing after her when she tried to evade. Five were dodged, but the sixth struck its target, clamping on to the ShenLong's leg. Even as Rin attempted to use her blade to cut her self loose, the rest of the daggers closed in and restrained her, before dragging her down to the ground. Reeling the pink IS in, Laura held it in front of her, intending on using it as a makeshift shield, while covering the rest of herself with the AIC. Immediately, Cecilia stopped firing, drones and rifle alike falling silent.

"I must admit, you two were better than I expected, but in the end, I am still the superior fighter." Laura taunted as Rin attempted to free herself.

"Oh really? You really should look down before making such claims!" Cecilia replied, causing the silver haired girl to look down... and at that moment one of the missiles that Cecilia had fired earlier in the match streaked in from above, exploding in the narrow gap between Rin and Laura, blasting apart the wires and allowing Rin to separate herself from her stunned opponent. As soon as she was clear, the barrage of plasma started again, while Rin flew over to her partner.

"Rin-san, are you alright?" Cecilia asked.

"The shield took the blast for me. I'm alright, but I'll have to be more careful from now on. I still can't believe Laura fell for that!" Rin replied as the smoke from the explosion cleared.

"Was that all? Good. It's my turn now." Laura replied, letting her daggers fly at Cecilia's drones. One was caught, and was quickly reeled in and destroyed with a single blow of Laura's energy blade. The rest of the drones began to take evasive action, allowing Laura to stop evading and take aim with her unit's railgun. With a series of loud 'CRACK!'s, the weapon began to fire, sending Rin and Cecilia into the air as they tried to dodge and return fire. Unfortunately for them, Laura's AIC absorbed their incoming fire, while the railgun was able to return fire with pinpoint accuracy due to its firing platform remaining stationary.

After nearly a minute of constant evasion, a lucky shot caught Rin square in the chest, propelling her IS back towards the Arena barrier. As she struggled to regain control of her IS, Laura drew a bead on her and began to place shot after shot into her as she slowly slid down to the ground. Ichika knew that her shields were low, and that her ADS would engage soon, but what then? The ADS only covered the pilot, and left the machine vulnerable, and if the IS took enough damage...

Using her daggers to keep Cecilia occupied, Laura jetted over to where Rin had fallen, planting her IS' foot on the other girl's chest, a cruel smile on her face. One shot, and Rin's IS was immobilized, its ADS engaging to keep the pilot safe. At that moment, Ichika deployed his IS. After ensuring nobody would hear, he spoke to his AI.

"Ori, can you get me through the Arena barrier?" He asked as Charlotte and Houki gaped at him.

"Let's see... Yes, I can do that." Ori replied. The barriers that separated the stands from the arena proper were overpowered variants of the IS energy shield, and could be brought down by a skilled hacker, or a powerful enough attack from an IS, hence the presence of blast shutters to protect the audience in the event of that happening.

"Do it." Ichika replied simply, and the barrier dropped. As the two girls around him gasped, he shot through the opening, the barrier re-activating behind him. Just as Laura prepared to fire a crippling shot at her opponent's IS, a volley of plasma fire slammed into her from the side. Turning to face him, Ichika smiled under his helmet at the shock on his target's face.

"Didn't they teach you not to waste ammunition on defeated opponents?" Ichika asked as Laura moved towards him.

"Ichika-san!" Cecilia called out from above where she was still pursued by a pair of daggers.

"If she was weak enough to end up in this situation, then she deserves what she is about to get." Laura replied, keeping her gun trained on Rin.

"And what would your precious instructor say about your current behavior?" Ichika asked, and he smiled as fury flashed through his opponent's eyes, causing her to bring her gun to bear on him and open fire.

"Alcott-san, get Rin out of here. I'll distract Laura." Ichika ordered as he watched the daggers pursuing the blonde break off and head for him. His FEL swiveled and opened fire, quickly severing the daggers' lines and causing them to fall to the ground, useless. As his laser took care of that particular threat, he turned his plasma rifle on Laura and opened fire, sending a barrage of superheated blue gas at Laura, who simply threw up her AIC and smiled as the shots impacted.

"Ori, aim the FEL at Laura, I want to test something." Ichika ordered once the last dagger had been severed.

"Roger that!" The AI exclaimed, and the laser turned to target Laura. Ichika relished the utterly shocked expression on her face a few moments later when she saw a plume of fire erupt from her IS unit's chest as the laser met its mark.

"Just as I suspected. Alright Ori, that's enough. No sense in letting her figure out what's going on." Ichika ordered after a few moments, and the laser shut down. Looking around, Ichika saw that Cecilia had managed to carry Rin out of the arena and was now coming back to assist him.

"Cecilia, we're leaving. There's no point in fighting her." Ichika said as he opened a communications channel with her.

"But-" Cecilia began, but he cut her off.

"Cecilia, staying here does nothing but inform her of our capabilities. We're going to thrash her tomorrow anyway, so there's no point fighting." Ichika replied, causing the British girl to sigh.

"Very well Ichika-san, but if you end up facing her first tomorrow, I expect you to pound her into the ground, understand?" Ichika smiled at that.

"Of course. Now, shall we go?" He said as he headed back to the arena exit.

"Dammit, you are not getting away so easily!" Laura cried out as she charged at him. Ichika twisted to face her, an energy shield already blooming into existence on his wrist, but Laura's energy blade never landed.

With a loud 'CLANG!', a giant katana taken straight from an Uchigane parried the blow, causing both Ichika and Laura to gasp, both at the feat and at the identity of the blade's wielded.

"Instructor?" Laura choked out as she realized what she had done. Chifuyu merely sighed in response.

"It's because of things like this that I've grown tired of handling kids."

"Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika wondered, having barely seen his older sister move.

"I am perfectly fine with you having mock battles, but I believe that subverting the barriers of the arena goes too far. As a teacher I cannot stand for this."

"Ori? I thought you made sure not to alert anyone when you dropped the shield!" Ichika asked, shutting off his speakers.

"I didn't alert anyone!" Ori replied.

"This mock battle is now cancelled. Any grudges between you two are to be settled at the coming tournament. Are we clear?" Chifuyu asked.

"If that is what the Instructor orders." Laura replied as she stowed away her IS.

"Orimura, Alcott, is that fine with you two?" Chifuyu turned to them.

"Yes, Orimura-sensei." Ichika replied.

"I am fine with that as well." Cecilia added.

"Good. In that case, you three are prohibited from participating in any mock battles until the Inter-Class Tournament. Dismissed!" Chifuyu called out, and the trio left the arena, Laura going off on her own while Cecilia and Ichika met up with Rin. Houki and 'Charles' joined them as well.

"It would have been fine even if you didn't come and save me!" Rin muttered as she stowed away her IS.

"Yeah, I could have beaten her, even on my own!" Cecilia chipped in.

"I have no doubt about that, but from where I was standing, it looked like Laura was about to inflict critical damage to Rin's IS, and if that had happened, both of you would have been disqualified from the coming tournament." Ichika replied, causing the two girls to look at him skeptically.

"He's right, you know. If an IS takes critical damage, it has to be repaired in a specialized facility over the course of several days. In addition, using a damaged IS in a tournament could cause permanent damage which could lead to your representative status being revoked." All heads in the room turned to face the speaker. Satisfied that she had the room's attention, Maya continued on.

"You two should thank Orimura-kun. If it weren't for his intervention, you two would not be able to compete in the tournament, which would in turn leave a poor mark on your records as representative candidates. After all, the main purpose of these tournaments is to gather data on your IS units."

"That reminds me, Ichika, how did you shut down the barrier? It's supposed to be there to stop IS units, after all." 'Charles' asked, curious.

"That is exactly what I am here to find out. Orimura-kun, will you please come with me? This shouldn't take long." Maya said, before leading Ichika out of the room. After a short walk, the green haired teacher stopped and leaned against the wall.

"Orimura-kun, while I cannot question the motive behind your actions today, the fact remains that you nearly caused a major breach of secrecy today when you hacked the arena barrier controls. Had your AI been a little less careful, it would have tripped something and next thing you know, I would have to break out the memory drugs and start erasing loose ends. I will let you off with a slap on the wrist just this once, but in the future I will have to take real punitive action should you continue to place the Organization at risk in this manner." Maya said, looking Ichika in the eye.

"I understand. What is my punishment?" Ichika asked, sighing inwardly. Maya smiled in response.

"Until further notice, your IS wing has been grounded due to the security risks posed by 50% of its members. Until these security risks are removed, your wing is prohibited from undertaking combat operations." Maya finished, and Ichika sighed in relief.

"I see what you mean by a slap on the wrist." Ichika smiled.

"This is not a laughing matter. Should this happen again, you run the risk of being detained for breach of security. You have been warned." Maya's expression became serious once more.

"I understand. Is there anything else?" Ichika asked.

"At the moment? No. I will notify you if anything else comes up. You may return to your friends. Oh, and in the future, I recommend that you sit close to one of the pit entrances so that you can intervene without having to hack the energy barrier." Maya said, before she turned and left Ichika alone in the hallway. Once she was gone, Ichika sighed audibly in relief before he headed back to where his friends were waiting.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright! This chapter is FINALLY done! I had to stay up a little late in order to finish this, but I'm actually kind of happy with how the non-piecemeal written half of this chapter turned out. However, I am kind of regretting introducing the Sarashiki siblings this early in the story, as this means that I have to insert them into events where they didn't technically exist, plus I am having some trouble writing their dialogue for some reason... Anyway, that's my general thoughts on the matter.**

 **In addition, I have altered the chronological order in which a few minor events appear, nothing major, but it helps make IS Academy look a bit more 'Professional' IMO. In the anime, a lot of school events are only really revealed at the last minute, which is all well and good for theatrical value, but in a real school things like the fact that the tournament will require a partner are planned out weeks, if not months, in advance rather than revealed with less than a day to go to the actual event. Hence my slight alteration of canon there... That and I didn't notice it until I re-watched the episode after I had already written the section, but don't tell anyone!**

 **Also, I am thinking of creating a companion 'fic' to this that essentially keeps track of the various IS units/other important technical bits that I intend to add/modify later in the story. This will let both you and me keep track of exactly what Ichika has in the Infinite Arsenal, the various modifications I intend to eventually make to canon IS units, as well as the original units and tech that I plan to add in. I might call it the 'Codex Stratos', or 'The Organization: Classified Files', or something along those lines. it won't be a real fic, but it will be a good way of keeping up with the technical developments I intend to make in this story. I would like your thoughts on the matter before I make it, however.**

 **Anyway, now that that's all been said, i hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please fav/follow/review as it suits you. I'll try and update whenever I have the chance.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

As soon as Ichika returned from his chat with Maya, the rest of the girls immediately began to pepper him with questions.

"What did Yamada-sensei tell you?"

"Are you in trouble?"

"Did something happen Ichika-san?"

"So how did you lower the barrier anyway Ichika?" That last question came from 'Charles', the blonde's face being more contemplative than the others.

"Ah, I'm not really supposed to talk about that." Ichika replied.

"About what?" Rin asked.

"About how Ichika-san took down the barrier in order to save you." Cecilia answered, before turning back to him.

"Does that mean that you're in trouble?" The blonde girl asked, concern clear on her features.

"No, I'm not in trouble. Since I did it to help Rin they decided to let it slide this time, but I can't do it again." Ichika replied, causing the fear to fade from Cecilia's face. Then, he continued.

"However, when I briefly fought with Laura, I managed to confirm one of my suspicions regarding the AIC, and I now have the knowledge and equipment needed to create a counter." Ichika finished, causing the girls' eyes to widen.

"So you were able to test if a laser could get through and you managed to succeed?" Houki chipped in, causing the attention in the room to shift to her.

"Exactly. It was only for a brief moment, but during the fight I fired my point defense laser at her through the AIC and it went right through it. Now that I know what works, all I have to do is create a more powerful version of it that can actually do some real damage." The rest of the girls smiled at that.

"But what if you don't end up facing her? I mean, if Cecilia and I get to her first then there wouldn't be anything left for you!" Rin asked.

"Then I will still have an awesome laser cannon at my disposal in case I have to face her in the future." Ichika replied as the group left the room. Soon, Ichika found himself back in the engineering bay, working on supersizing his FEL array.

* * *

The sun had already set by the time Charlotte found him in Engineering Bay 8, still working on his new weapon.

"Ichika? Are you still here?" The French girl called out as she entered the large room.

"Yeah. What is it?" Ichika replied, signalling for Ori to hide herself.

"Well... Did you get it to work? Because curfew is coming up and I don't want you to get in trouble..." The blonde trailed off.

"Don't worry, I was just wrapping up for the day. I got a prototype going that doesn't melt itself after a single shot, but the problem is that it needs to cool itself extensively after a single 2 second shot, so no full auto yet. Not to mention that the cooling cycle creates a ton of vapor." Ichika replied, gesturing to the long, black object currently being held in a pair of remote clamps and pointed at a nearby target. It was a simple rectangular box, with a long slot running down either side. On one end there was an object that was clearly a grip, and a short uplink scope was mounted on top.

"But does it work?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah, it does. Do you want to watch?" Ichika asked, preparing the gun for another test firing.

"Sure!" Charlotte said, walking over to where he stood. A few seconds passed as Ichika ran through a few pre-firing checks, before, with a dramatic flourish of his hand that caused Charlotte to giggle, he pushed the button. Immediately, a loud whine filled the room, and the weapon lit up, several parts starting to glow, first red, and then a bright orange. A loud hiss filled the room a second later, and the firing chamber filled with a dense fog, which would have hidden the weapon entirely if it wasn't for the rapidly dimming glow of superheated materials. By the time the hissing stopped ten seconds later, the weapon was entirely invisible, while only its white hot glow prevented the target from being concealed in a similar manner.

"Alright, the weapon has cooled now. Replacing target and firing again." Ichika spoke, and after a few short seconds, the already fogged up room became even cloudier.

"I see how all that fog can be a problem..." Charlotte said after a few moments.

"Yeah. Not only does it make it almost impossible to see, but all that vapor in the air really messes with infrared imaging. If it is even half as bad as this in the actual arena, we'll be shooting blind after we fire our opening volley." Ichika replied.

"I see... Wait, what do you mean we?" Charlotte asked, and Ichika raised a small object in response.

"I've programmed this prototype into an equalizer unit. It will only take up one slot, and your Revive has plenty. I'll fabricate a second copy overnight for my own use. We'll get some practice in tomorrow morning."

"W-Wait! You're just giving me this?" Charlotte gestured towards the weapon.

"Of course! Laura's AIC can still block your entire arsenal, and once she figures out that I can get through it, she'll focus it entirely on you. This way we both have a way of getting through." Charlotte was silent for a few moments, before she smiled and took the offered equalizer.

"Say, Ichika, what are you planning on calling this?" The girl asked, pocketing the equalizer unit. Ichika thought for a moment.

"Well, I was thinking of calling it the HLPT-1, for Heavy Laser Prototype 1." Ichika replied, causing Charlotte to blink.

"W-What? Ichika, that's no name for a weapon that will bring us victory tomorrow! Something like this... It should be called something magnificent, but not overly so, otherwise someone might think you're compensating for something..." Charlotte blushed for a moment as she realized what she just said.

"A-Anyway!" The French girl stammered out, "Just calling it a string of letters and numbers is unacceptable! This isn't some mass produced laser cannon straight off the production line, it's the first of its kind! That means it has to be named something that makes it stand out! Something like... Lighthouse in the Fog, since it's a laser that makes a lot of foggy stuff, or maybe the Penetrator, since it can penetrate the AIC, or maybe something like-" Ichika cut the girl off mid-sentence.

"How does Invisible Glare sound?" Ichika asked, causing his partner to stare at him for a moment, before breaking out into a grin.

"That's perfect! When do we get to try it out?" Charlotte exclaimed eagerly.

"Tomorrow morning, right after breakfast. That will give us an hour or so to get used to this gun before we have to get to the arena." Ichika said, standing up from his work station.

"Charlotte, can you deploy your IS and install the Invisible Glare? I want to make sure everything fits." He asked, stretching after a long time spent seated.

"Alright." Charlotte replied, and her Raphael Revive Custom flashed into existence around her. Quickly clambering out, she made her way around the unit and popped open a small panel, revealing a series of slots, most of them already occupied. Plugging the equalizer into one, Charlotte closed the panel and climbed back into her IS.

"Alright. Now try storing and re-deploying it." Ichika ordered, and his partner complied, the weapon flashing out of existence in the testing room, and reappearing in her hands moments later.

"Good. Looks like it all works. I guess that means I'm done for today, so let's get back to our room before curfew." Ichika said, making sure he was leaving the room as he had found it before logging out. In the meantime, Charlotte had stowed away her IS, and soon the pair had made their way back to room 1025, making it inside only a few minutes before curfew. A few moments passed in silence, with Ichika standing up to grab a change of clothes from his closet.

"Say, Ichika, how did you manage to take down the barrier earlier today? I know you're not supposed to talk about it, but since we're alone in here, do you mind telling me? I-I mean, I understand if you don't want to, but..." Charlotte trailed off, as Ichika turned to look at her.

"Why do you want to know? You aren't planning something involving the arena barriers, are you?" Ichika asked.

"N-No! Nothing like that! I was just curious!" Charlotte stammered out.

"Well..." Ichika paused, considering his options. He couldn't tell the whole truth, and not saying anything might cause Charlotte to start investigating on her own, so after a few moments' thought, he decided on a half-truth.

"Alright, I'll tell you. You know how my IS can assimilate data on other units' weapons and equipment?" When his roommate nodded, he continued.

"Well, it does so through a combination of scanning the enemy's weapon and hacking into its equalizer system to get at the necessary data. That in turn means that my IS needs very strong cyberwarfare systems, which I decided to put to use in lowering the barrier." Ichika replied.

"Wait, but the Arena barrier and the Equalizer systems are two different things! A program made to access data from an equalizer won't be able to drop a barrier, or vice versa, and you didn't have time to modify the program!" Charlotte declared.

"Of course. That's because I had made the program several weeks beforehand."

"But why..."

"You weren't here when that drone attacked the academy during last month's tournament. One of the things it did was shut down all exits and entrances to the arena, forcing me and Rin to fight it alone, as reinforcements couldn't get inside. That's why I designed this program, so that something like that wouldn't happen again." Ichika replied, and Charlotte nodded in understanding.

"I see now..." Charlotte was silent for a few moments, before she spoke again.

"What was it like?"

"What was what like?" Ichika asked in turn.

"When the drone attacked... What was it like to have to fight it? I mean, it wasn't just a fun match! From what I heard, that thing tried to kill you!"

"Well... At the time I wasn't really focused on that... I think it was because I had been fighting a regular tournament right before, and I guess I never really believed it was coming to kill me..." A flat out lie, but it was all Ichika could say.

"I see... I wonder who sent it? I mean, I've heard it was an experimental machine that malfunctioned, but somehow I doubt that is the case." Charlotte replied.

"What are you getting at?" Ichika asked.

"Think about it Ichika! If it were an experimental machine, why would it come to IS Academy? Why wouldn't it attack something closer to where it was being tested? Not to mention that common sense would mean that a prototype at risk of running amok wouldn't have real weapons mounted on it! All this points to that drone being an attack against IS Academy! What do you think, Ichika?"

"I would tell you that any such questions should be directed to my older sister. As much as I would like to, I am prohibited from saying anything on the matter." Ichika replied.

"So you do know something! What was that drone really doing? Who sent it? Was it really an attack?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny any of your suspicions. I have been ordered by Instructor Orimura Chifuyu to remain silent on this topic. The same applies to all other students involved in the incident."

"Orimura-sensei... Now that I think about it, whenever something unusual happens here she seems to be involved." Charlotte mused.

"What do you mean?" Ichika asked.

"Well, first there's Laura, who is clearly the most unusual student in our class. In my spare time, I decided to try and use the internet to try and find information on her, and there's next to nothing out there. However, what I do know is that she acts like a soldier, and it clearly isn't just a case of playing pretend! Not to mention how she seems to have a history with Orimura-sensei."

"That doesn't prove anything. It could just be happenstance."

"I know, and that's not all. From what you just told me, Orimura-sensei clearly knew what that drone was, who made it, and why it was here! She certainly knew enough to order you, Cecilia, Rin and Houki to keep quiet about it, that's for sure!"

"That could have been a coincidence."

"Finally, I am sure you saw how Orimura-sensei came to your aid today while you were fighting Laura. I was watching from the stands and I barely saw her move! She was carrying a Katana that was as tall as she was, if not taller, and had to weigh half as much as her, and she blocked a blow from an IS with it like it was nothing! Not only did she swing a sword meant for an IS like it was nothing, but she also blocked a blow from Schwarzer Regen with it! Even though the sword could have taken the punishment, the human body couldn't have taken that much force and remained intact, and yet she walked away without so much as a bruise, much less the broken bones she should have gotten!"

"I see... That definitely is strange, to say the least." Ichika replied. Now that he thought about it, he realized that Charlotte was right. A normal person couldn't have withstood that blow without being pulverized... And had his sister been normal, she wouldn't even have made it into position to block it! Adrenaline or not, a normal person couldn't move so quickly with such a heavy weapon on them, much less wield it after doing so!

"Ichika? Is something wrong?" Charlotte asked.

"No, nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking..." Ichika murmured, searching his memories for more incidents of superhuman prowess on his sister's behalf. Quite a few came up, mostly from when he was very young. Memories like Chifuyu jumping onto the roof of his house to retrieve a ball that had gotten stuck up there, or one of the several times he had seen her carrying heavy equipment for Tabane, back before the invention of the IS. Back then he was too young to really think much of it, but now...

"I'll take the first shower then, unless you would like to?" Ichika said, getting a change of clothes ready.

"Y-Yes, go ahead!" Charlotte replied, and he was soon alone in the shower. However, the hot water did little to wash away the thoughts about his sister.

* * *

The next day, Ichika and Charlotte finished breakfast as quickly as they could in order to reserve a practice arena for themselves. Fortunately for them, Arena 12 was still open, giving them ample opportunity to practice with their new weapons.

Deploying their IS suits, both Ichika and Charlotte pulled out their respective lasers, with Ori having fabricated one for Ichika overnight.

"Ready?" Ichika asked once Charlotte had deployed her weapon.

"Of course!" The French Representative Candidate smiled, and even though he knew she couldn't see it behind his mask, Ichika smiled back.

"Alright then! We'll do simple target practice first, then try them out against moving enemies." Ichika replied, while two knife missiles appeared around him. The two drones then flew over to the other end of the arena, where they sat still.

"The drones will be our targets. Let's start... now!" Ichika called out, and the two drones were promptly burned out of the sky. Unfortunately, neither Ichika nor Charlotte managed to see their handiwork, as the arena was already filling up with vapor.

"Did I hit?" Charlotte asked.

"Neither of the drones are responding, so you must have!" Ichika replied as his weapon cooled.

"But how will we land our next shots? We'll be shooting blind!" Charlotte asked.

"Hmm... Charlotte, does your IS have a radar? That might be able to see through the fog." Ichika replied, and Charlotte shook her head.

"Most IS units don't have radar, unless it's part of their weapon targeting systems. Do you have one?" Charlotte asked.

"Hmm... I'm afraid I don't. However, I do have another idea. Give me a moment." Ichika replied, before switching off his speakers.

"Ori, can you get drones up above the fog and use them to direct our fire? I believe our Blue Tear drones have a built in hyper-sensor for that very reason."

"I thought you'd never ask. If you want, I can get to work on designing a drone dedicated to fire control, but I am not sure if I can get it ready in time for the tournament." Ori replied.

"Why not?" Ichika asked.

"It's not like the knife missile, where all I did was swap out one system for another. Instead of just swapping out weapons for cameras, I'm also going to have to improve the speed and agility of the unit, as well as its stealth capabilities. You wouldn't want your fancy recon drones blown out of the sky as soon as they're seen, right?" Ori said.

"Of course, but for now I would like you to just swap out weapons for cameras. Once you've got that ready, then get to work on a dedicated recon drone. If it's ready by the time the tournament starts, then we'll use it, but I'd like to have alternatives available in case that doesn't work out." Ichika replied. Ori stayed silent for a moment, before a picture of a bright yellow smiley face appeared on the Infinite Arsenal's HUD.

"My my, Ichika is so smart! I knew there was a reason you were my partner! I'll have the first camera drone ready in fifteen seconds." Ori said, and true to her word, a camera drone appeared above Ichika's shoulder fifteen seconds later.

"Thanks Ori." Ichika said, before turning his speakers back on.

"Looks like the fog is starting to clear up, so we'll fire another volley before testing this out." Ichika told his partner, calling up another two knife missiles. This time, they began to circle once they reached the edge of the arena.

"Remember, the shot here travels at near light speed, so you don't have to lead your target." Ichika said, before taking aim, centering the target in his sights before firing, his partner doing the same. Once again, both drones were blown out of the sky, and the screen of fog was formed once again.

"Alright Ori, time to test the camera drone. Engage uplink targeting for both me and Charlotte." Ichika ordered, and the camera drone sped upwards, soon being joined by a second, newly made drone. Ideally, at least four such drones would be needed in order to add all three dimensions to the image, but only two drones were available at the moment.

"Ichika? What is this?" Charlotte asked as a holographic targeting display popped up, showing a two dimensional view of the battlefield, highlighting the positions of a pair of newly materialized target drones on her HUD.

"It's an idea I just had. Essentially, the drones I have up above us are acting as our eyes, letting us see through the mist. Now let's take another test shot." Ichika said, and soon the density of fog had been doubled.

"One of us missed." Ichika reported, as one of the target drones was still active. Just then, a third and fourth camera drone materialized over his shoulders and flew up to join the previous two. A few seconds later, the two dimensional view updated itself and became fully three dimensional, making it appear as if the fog did not even exist.

"Time for another test shot. Ready... Aim... Fire!" Ichika called out, and this time both drones were destroyed.

"Hey, Ichika, if we can see through the fog but our opponents can't, then we can use it to mask our movements, right?" Charlotte asked.

"My thoughts exactly. In order to help us practice, I'll make it so the next group of drones can shoot back." Ichika said, and a quartet of beam drones appeared over his shoulders and shot towards the target area.

"Don't stop shooting until all drones are gone." Ichika said, taking aim at one of the knife missiles also present in the target zone.

As soon as his weapon finished firing, Ichika dodged, his still cooling gun laying a trail of thermal smoke that prevented the beam drones from tracking him. Streaks of blue light passed through where he had stood just before. Looking around, Ichika saw that his partner had also managed to dodge, her weapon laying a smokescreen along the ground, while flashes of blue indicated the beam drones attempting to find and shoot her.

His weapon stopped hissing, meaning that it was ready to fire, and he promptly took aim and eliminated another drone, using his gun's vapor screen to escape return fire. Five seconds passed, and Charlotte fired. Soon, the pair fell into a pattern of alternating fire, with one person using their weapon's cooling to cover their partner and allow them to take aim.

Time flew by, however, and soon the training session was over. Ichika and 'Charles' promptly made their way to the newly designated Boys' changing room, where they quickly changed into their respective piloting suits. Just when they had finished changing, the holographic screen at the end of the room changed to show the tournament brackets, and Ichika smiled when he saw that he would be fighting Laura in the first match of the tournament.

"Looks like we're fighting Laura in the first round." Charlotte stated the obvious.

"Good. That means I don't have to wait." Ichika grinned at her, before he noticed the smaller screen in the room, which displayed a list of names, along with a view of the VIP section of the stands. Some names he recognized from his dossiers, such as Hans Bodewig, while others, like David Fitzpatrick, were familiar from his time in the Organization. However, there was one name that truly caught his eye, and that was Raymond White. Evidently, his old instructor had taken the time to come and watch.

"There are so many important people watching..." Charlotte murmured, her eyes also scanning the list. She nodded at a few of the names, doubtlessly recognizing them.

"They're mostly here to gather data, although a few of them are here to scout for new Representative Candidates." Ichika said, causing Charlotte to look at him.

"What do you mean? I thought only the third years got scouted." The confused girl asked.

"No, the rest of us are scouted too. That's how about most of corporate representative candidates are selected, after all. A scouter sees a particularly skilled first year who is not yet a representative, and if he is sufficiently impressed, offers them a deal. National representatives, on the other hand, are usually selected before they enter the academy." Ichika replied, not looking away from the screen.

Nearly ten minutes passed in relative silence, with the muted sounds of the announcer addressing the arena being the only sound. Then, the PA system activated in the changing room.

"Orimura Ichika and Charlotte Dunois versus Laura Bodewig and Shinonono Houki." The announcer spoke, and Ichika turned to leave the room, Charlotte following right behind him.

"Remember, stick to the plan we came up with." Ichika said as he entered the access tunnel.

"Right. We'll fire on Laura and create a smoke screen, then we use it as cover to take out Houki. Once that is done, we'll engage Laura and eliminate her." Charlotte replied.

"Good. Let's do this." Ichika replied, and in unison, the pair of them deployed their IS suits and flew out into the arena proper, landing on the ground facing Laura and Houki.

"It is good that we are the first to fight. That means I won't have to wait to destroy you." Laura spoke first.

"I agree." Ichika replied simply, before turning off his helmet speakers.

"Ori, as soon as the battle starts, I want you to start analyzing the AIC. Once that is done, get to work on her wire guided daggers, and then move on to her energy blade emitters." Ichika ordered.

"Understood. The AIC should take approximately six minutes to copy. I'll notify you when it is done." The AI replied.

"I'll crush you!" Laura shouted, activating her AIC in anticipation of a barrage of incoming fire. Ichika's shoulder mounted laser cannon gave her his reply, and in the brief moment before fog obscured his vision, Ichika saw her features morph into an expression of shock as his weapon's fire bypassed the barrier entirely.

"Launching camera drones." Ichika said, and 'Charles' nodded, watching as a swarm of drones shot into the air. Most of them were suicide drones, but mixed in among their number were four camera drones, giving him a perfect view of his target.

After her AIC had been penetrated, Laura had taken flight, attempting evasive action, while Houki charged forward, intending to close the distance as fast as possible.

"Charles, fire once at Laura then prepare to engage Houki." Ichika said, raising his arm mounted dual barreled plasma rifle, which he had named 'Ultramarine Storm', bringing it to bear against Houki.

"Got it!" Charlotte called out, and an earsplitting whine, coupled with a plume of fire erupting from Laura's chest, indicated her first shot of the match. Her weapon trailing clouds of vapor, Charlotte materialized a second weapon in her other hand, a Garm 15mm. SMG, aiming it at where she knew Houki was, and opened fire, a storm of blue fire from Ichika's weapon flying in the Japanese girl's direction a second later as well. Then Houki entered the vapor cloud, where the camera drones couldn't see, and the two of them were shooting blind for a few critical moments. Houki clearly noticed this, and rather than simply charging through the vapor she changed direction.

Their guns falling silent, Ichika and Charlotte faced the smoke, ready to fire at the slightest sign of movement. A few seconds passed like that, before Houki burst out of the fog, flying straight at Charlotte. The French girl fired a long burst from Vent as she frantically backpedaled, but Houki was quickly upon her, sword flashing in a downward arc. Taking aim, Ichika opened fire on the Japanese girl, but a 20mm. shell traveling at Mach 7 slamming into his barriers forced him to change targets.

"I am your opponent here, Orimura!" Laura declared as she fired another shot, forcing Ichika to take evasive action. Quickly looking down, he saw that Charlotte had managed to evade Houki's strike. However, the laser rifle she was carrying wasn't so lucky, the long gun lying on the ground in two pieces. The two halves of the laser cannon shimmered, and faded out of existence as it was sent back into IS-space for repair.

Weaving out of the way of a pair of wire guided daggers, Ichika ordered several of the suicide drones flying above the battle to begin their attack runs, causing Laura to abandon her offensive as she evaded a pair of explosive filled drones. Another pair of explosive filled drones shot towards Houki, who was too busy pressing her advantage against Charlotte to notice. The two consecutive detonations sent her to the ground, allowing Charlotte to swap out both her weapons for semi-automatic shotguns. As Houki looked up from where she lay, she found herself staring down two shotgun barrels, both of which barked in unison. Three shots later, and Houki's ADS engaged, knocking her out of the fight.

"AIC Analysis complete. However, we have a problem." Ori reported as Charlotte sped away from her downed opponent.

"What is it?" Ichika asked.

"While I can produce the AIC in about ten minutes with little to no problem, I can't integrate it into the Infinite Arsenal mid-battle." Ori reported.

"Why not?" Ichika asked, dodging out of the way of a volley from Laura's railgun.

"Unlike most weapons, I can't just strap the AIC on one of our hardpoints. I need to thoroughly integrate it into the IS, and that cannot be done with the Infinite Arsenal being active." Ori replied.

"Fine. Get to work on analyzing the wire guided daggers. We'll deal with the AIC later." Ichika ordered, centering Laura in his laser cannon's sights and firing, the vapor screen once again hiding him from his opponent. A pair of wire guided daggers punched through the screen, but they were flying blind, their guidance systems being mounted on their parent IS. A quick sweep from his point defense laser and both weapons were cut loose, falling to the arena floor, their wires gone.

"Charles, flank her. I'll lay down a screen for you." Ichika ordered as his partner joined him.

"Got it!" His partner replied, and Ichika fired again, the foggy screen extending out behind him as he flew, drawing Laura's fire.

"Wire guided dagger analysis complete. I can produce a single, wrist mounted variant in about a minute, or a full, three dagger array in three and a half." Ori reported.

"Good. Get a pair of wrist mounted units going while you work on analyzing Laura's energy blades." Ichika replied, watching Charlotte break cover and zoom towards Laura's exposed back, only for the AIC to spring into existence ahead of her, halting her in her tracks. Laura laughed as she turned to face her opponent.

"Idiot! The AIC is omni-directional!" The silver haired girl crowed, her railgun lowering until it was facing Charlotte's immobilized form. A storm of blue plasma bolts prevented her from firing though, as Ichika appeared from behind his smokescreen, blazing away with Ultramarine Storm. One of the plasma bolts hit the railgun, burning a hole clean through the black weapon and rendering it inoperable.

Eyes wide, Laura sent her remaining daggers out to strike at Charlotte, bringing her AIC to bear against Ichika, stopping the storm of blue bolts in its tracks. However, rather than switch to his laser rifle, Ichika continued to shoot at Laura with his plasma rifle, the bolts halting in their tracks and dissipating as they hit the barrier. As he continued to shoot ineffectively, his point defense laser activated, ignoring the barrier and starting to cut through the cables that bound Laura's remaining daggers to her unit.

"What's the matter boy? Have you forgotten how to get through my barrier?" Laura taunted as the FEL finished slicing through her second dagger.

"You know Laura, that ECM pod you installed yesterday didn't do you any good." Ichika replied, intending on keeping her talking.

"What do you mean?" The silver haired girl asked, the laser cutting through her third remaining dagger in the meantime.

"Why don't I show you?" Ichika replied, deploying one of the newly produced wire guided daggers and firing it at her.

"W-What? How did you-" Laura was cut off as Ichika's laser finished cutting through her last remaining dagger, allowing Charlotte to quickly close the distance and activate her Grey Scale pilebunker, the weapon's spike slamming into the Schwarzer Regen and causing it to fly back into the arena wall. As the crowd cheered, Charlotte closed the distance once again and slammed the recovering Laura against the wall, the weapon slamming into her again and again, accompanied by the flash of Laura's barrier being damaged.

"You're finished, Bodewig!" Charlotte declared, her weapon poised for a final blow... and suddenly all hell broke loose. A scream of agony began to echo around the arena, while bolts of electricity began to play around the Schwarzer Regen. As Charlotte prepared to administer her finishing blow, she was lifted off the ground and thrown back, the Grey Scale impacting empty air as the power of the AIC was inverted.

"Ori, what the hell is going on?" Ichika demanded as Laura continued to cry out in agony.

"Some system I didn't notice before just activated! It's doing something to her IS. It's prevented me from completing my energy blade analysis, that's for sure!" Ori reported.

"Can you shut it down?" Ichika asked.

"No, there's another AI in there. If I were to try anything, that AI would work against me." Ori replied.

"Fine. Can you at least tell me what that system does?" Ichika asked as he watched the Schwarzer Regen lose its shape, becoming a gelatinous mass of black material, that slowly enveloped its still screaming pilot.

"It's... The Schwarzer Regen has just broken down into a mass of AI controlled nanomachines. Other than that, I can't tell you anything." Ori reported.

"Damn." Ichika muttered simply, watching as Laura's head disappeared beneath the black liquid, silencing her screams.

"Ichika! What's going on?" Charlotte asked, picking herself up off the ground.

"I don't know." Ichika replied as the black mass began to take on a humanoid form. What was once a simple lump of black goo became an arm, while two legs sprouted down and slowly gained form. Alarms began to blare around the arena, and Chifuyu's voice crackled over the PA.

"All tournament matches are cancelled. Security level has been raised to Level D. Instructor forces are being sent in to remedy the situation. All guests are to evacuate immediately." Chifuyu ordered as blast shutters began to slam closed around the stands. By the time the shutters had closed, the once formless mass of nanomachines was replaced by a very familiar form.

"No... It can't be!" Charlotte murmured, also recognizing the shape that the Schwarzer Regen had assumed.

"Whatever that thing is, it must be trying to copy Chifuyu-nee's fighting style, right down to the aesthetic." Ichika replied, pushing down the hot anger that rose inside him when he thought of what Laura had just done.

"What do we do?" Charlotte asked.

"DODGE!" Ichika shouted, causing Charlotte to roll out of the way of the Chifuyu copy's charge. Ichika fired off a quick burst from Ultramarine Storm before doing the same, the blue bolts leaving small glowing pockmarks on his otherwise undamaged opponent. The figure's black blade, a copy of his older sister's Yukihira, sliced through the space he had just occupied, its wielder turning to face him once more.

"Ichika!" Houki's voice called out from the other end of the arena. "Take this!"

Dodging out of the way of another blow, Ichika turned to see Houki raising her Uchigane's katana. While her unit was no longer able to fight, it seemed that her weapons were still in play.

Quickly making his way over to his childhood friend, Ichika grabbed the katana out of her hand and, deploying a hexagonal barrier from his wrist, he blocked the next blow. However, the blade was far from the only weapon the black figure possessed, as it promptly drew back its immense fist and punched, sending the Infinite Arsenal flying across the arena.

"Ori! Disable tournament limiters!" Ichika ordered as he regained control of his machine, and he smiled as his shield began to regenerate. That smile turned into an expression of horror as the black copy of his sister flew towards him, striking out in a perfect copy of the first Katana technique that Chifuyu had ever taught him. Bringing up his own blade to parry, Ichika felt the shock travel through the IS and up his arm. Gritting his teeth at the pain, Ichika blocked the black figure's punch with an energy barrier. For a few moments, the two of them were locked together, before Ichika heard a faint hiss coming from his sword. Looking up, he saw the nanobots of the Yukihira rapidly eating through his katana's blade, and as he watched, the blade was severed in two, the tip falling to the ground with a soft thud. Dropping the now useless blade, Ichika attempted to retreat, but the black figure was faster, catching him in midair with its sword and sending him flying across the arena. His HUD was glowing red, showing that his shield was completely depleted. Looking up at the approaching enemy, Ichika saw a volley of gunfire connect with its side, Charlotte attempting to distract it from finishing him. However, the figure simply paused for a moment, analyzing the orange IS shooting at it, before turning back to Ichika.

"Don't worry Charles. Even without my shield, I can still fight." Ichika said as he stood up, taking aim with his laser cannon and firing a single shot before accelerating upwards. The glowing crater the weapon left in the black figure's chest soon disappeared though, and the copy shot upwards after him. However, for all its speed on the ground, the large figure was slow and ungainly in the air, allowing Ichika to keep his distance.

A squadron of instructors in Raphael Revives chose that moment to appear, opening fire on the black figure to little effect, while Charlotte did the same from where she stood on the ground. However, all those bullets failed to inflict any real damage, and two instructors were sent to the ground with their ADS units enabled, courtesy of a single blow from the copy's Yukihira clone. The rest of the instructors scattered, still firing, but fortunately for them, the black figure seemed entirely fixated on Ichika.

"Ori, please tell me you have a way of beating this thing!" Ichika said as he continued to climb, his weapons blazing.

"Well, if we were to remove the pilot, I believe it will stop, but the nanomachines are blocking my scanners. I can't even tell where the pilot is, or if she is still alive in there." Ori reported.

"Well, it's better than nothing. Deploy a few knife missiles and try to disarm it. I want to see if the beam katars can cut through it." Ichika ordered, and a flight of four knife missiles streaked towards the enemy, blades glowing a bright white. One was swatted out of the air, but the rest made it to the target and began to saw through the arm holding the blade. Like a blowtorch cutting through solid steel, the white hot jets of plasma that formed the blades of the beam katars began to slowly cut through the black material, leaving glowing trails in their path. However, the nanomachines began to quickly fill in the gaps, preventing the knife missiles from accomplishing their goal, but they still managed to prove that they could cut through the black mass.

"Ori, you're a lifesaver." Ichika replied, a plan forming in his head as he flew back down to the arena floor. As soon as he landed, a swarm of knife missiles burst into existence around him, first ten, then twenty, and eventually a hundred black drones, each armed with a glowing plasma blade, were hovering around him. A pair of shield drones appeared as well, their hexagonal barriers shimmering into existence briefly as the Chifuyu copy landed, causing the arena to shake.

"Alright Ori. Use the shield drones to tie up that thing's weapons, while the beam drones start cutting. Each drone can only concentrate on a tiny area though, or else the nanobots start to repair the damage." Ichika said, taking a deep breath before accelerating towards the enemy. The Yukihira copy came in from one side, and slammed against one shield drone's barrier, while the figure's fist did the same. Firing his new wrist mounted wire guided daggers, he watched as their cables wrapped around the figure's wrists, keeping them still. Then, the drone swarm was upon the nanomachine mass, and a hundred plasma blades began to burn through the black goo, Ichika deploying his own beam katars and joining in, rapidly slicing through layer after layer of thick black fluid until the tip of one of his plasma blades burned through a familiar grey pilot suit. Ignoring the burn wound he had just inflicted, Ichika deactivated one of his blades, while the second was used to keep the gap open wide enough for him to reach in with his IS suit's arm. His barrier shield had re-activated earlier, but as soon as the arm came into contact with the nanomachine mass, it began to drop. By the time the arm had reached Laura, the barrier had dropped again, and sirens were blaring in Ichika's helmet as the limb began to be slowly eaten away. However, the arm was resilient enough to reach Laura's body, grabbing hold of the girl's slim waist. As soon as the hold was secure, Ichika activated his wrist mounted barrier shield, or rather, he tried to. The nanobots had already eaten through the emitter, preventing him from deploying it.

That was far from the only problem that occurred when he grabbed hold of Laura, though, as the black mass seemed to recognize that it was in danger of being deactivated. A thick tendril of black gel slammed into Ichika's unshielded helmet, causing three of the four cameras to break. A second strike broke the remaining camera, leaving Ichika blind for a moment before the helmet's visor slid open. The tendril promptly struck again, causing cracks to spiderweb across the transparent material. Several other such tendrils were striking at his armor, attempting to get at him directly. However, it was too little too late, as the knife missiles began to quickly cut through the nanobots keeping Laura in place, allowing him to slowly but surely pull her out, and once the silver haired girl passed a certain point, the machine ceased its struggles, slowly collapsing in a puddle of inert black gel. His damaged IS suit promptly shimmered out of existence around him, causing both him and Laura to fall to the ground, the girl coming to rest in his arms, just as she opened her eyes, one a deep red, while the other a bright gold.

That was when Ichika felt several sharp pains all over his body. Looking down, he saw that he was bleeding from several wounds. Evidently some of the tendrils had managed to break through the armor, as was evidenced by the blood slowly pouring out from several deep gouges in his left arm, another similar wound present on his right leg. The tendrils that had inflicted those wound had evidently been aiming for the arteries in those areas. Another tendril had stabbed through his shoulder, his armor having stopped it from punching through his heart. A wet feeling was also present on his forehead, courtesy of his helmet's broken visor.

"Ichika!" Houki's horrified voice called out.

"We have wounded in need of immediate medical attention on the Arena One floor!" One of the instructors up above called out as Ichika collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

Ichika slowly came to on a hospital bed, groaning softly at the dull ache present all over his body.

"Don't be so dramatic. We both know those wounds looked worse than they really were." A familiar voice rang in his ears.

"Chifuyu-nee..." Ichika began, but his older sister cut him off.

"Your IS saved you, you know. If it weren't for that pilot armor, you would be a bleeding, brainless corpse by now."

"I know." Ichika opened his eyes, blinking several times at the sunlight that filled the room.

"No, I don't think you do, Ichika. You came this close to death today. A few more seconds and we wouldn't be having this conversation! What you did in the arena was both stupid and unnecessary! There is a reason that the instructors were deployed, after all!"

"Do you really think they could have stopped it?" Ichika asked, sitting up, wincing at the pain. Chifuyu was silent for a few moments, before she sighed.

"No, I don't think so. However, in that event, I would have gone out to engage the Valkyrie Trace Clone personally. There was no need for you to involve yourself." Ichika chuckled at that.

"I didn't involve myself because I needed to, I did so because I chose to. The Valkyrie Trace Clone, if that is indeed what it was called, attempted to copy your skill without your humanity. I couldn't allow such an abomination to continue to exist."

"So you wrecked your IS, nearly killed yourself, and made me stand in here for six hours straight because of your pride?" Chifuyu demanded.

"Yes. I did." Ichika sighed. Chifuyu was silent for a moment, before her serious demeanor melted away.

"Dammit Ichika, do you realize how close you came to dying today? If the tendril that got your leg had hit just a centimeter to the left it would have cut through your femoral artery, and you would have had less than three minutes to live. Do you realize how worried I was when I saw where you were bleeding from?" As she spoke, Chifuyu slowly walked up to him, until she was standing directly over the bed in which he lay. Then, his older sister leaned down and embraced him, holding him as tightly as she dared to given his injuries.

"Dammit Ichika... If I had lost you, then I don't know what I would have done..." Ichika hesitantly returned the embrace as his sister spoke, wincing as pain shot through his injured shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Chifuyu-nee..." Ichika began, but his sister cut him off.

"If you were truly sorry, you would promise to never do something like this to me again." His older sister spoke, looking him straight in the eye. After a few moments, Ichika looked away.

"I'm sorry Chifuyu-nee, but I'm afraid that I may not be able to keep that promise." Ichika replied, causing his older sister to simply hug him tighter.

"Dammit Ichika, don't you know that when a lady asks you to promise her something, you always say yes?"

"But if I am doomed to break that promise, what should I say then?" Ichika asked.

"Why would you say that Ichika? What makes you so sure that your safety will not be guaranteed in the near future?" Chifuyu asked.

"I... I can't..." Ichika gulped, before continuing.

"Given that something has happened whenever I have taken part in an IS tournament, I shudder to think of what will happen in the next one."

"You're not telling me something. Please Ichika, you are the most precious person in the world to me, and if something is putting you in danger-" Ichika quickly cut his sister off.

"Then I will make sure that what happened when I was ten will not repeat itself. I may not be as strong or as skilled as you, but I am far from helpless. Please, Chifuyu-nee, just trust me on this. You've kept me safe for so long... I can't let you keep placing yourself in harm's way for me. I-" This time, it was Ichika's turn to be cut off as Chifuyu placed her finger over his lips.

"I don't do anything for you because I need to, Ichika. I do so because I want to, because you are my precious little brother, who matters to me more than anything else in this world. That means that I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, no matter what I have to sacrifice." Ichika didn't respond to that, simply smiling back at his sister. A few minutes passed in silence, the two siblings simply sitting on the bed together, their arms wrapped around each other. Eventually, however, the silence was broken as Chifuyu reluctantly released her younger brother, standing up from where she sat beside him.

"Chifuyu-nee..." Ichika called out, causing her to pause.

"What is it Ichika?" The black haired woman asked.

"How much longer until I'm released from the infirmary?" Ichika asked. That caused his older sister to chuckle.

"As I said earlier, you were lucky. Stem-gel treatment has repaired most of the damage already, but it still needs around eight hours before it is done. That means you'll likely end up staying the night. If all goes well, you'll be released tomorrow morning." As Ichika groaned, Chifuyu laughed once more.

"Oh, and before I forget, your friends were quite worried about you, and now that you're awake... I suggest you brace yourself! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go check on a certain silver haired idiot." Chifuyu once again turned to the door, but Ichika spoke up once more.

"How is Laura anyway?" He asked.

"It's difficult to say. Physically she's fine, the VT system didn't get to that stage yet, but mentally... She still hasn't woken up. Why are you so worried about her? She nearly killed you, after all."

"Well, I can't say that I am particularly fond of her, but after hearing her screaming like that when the VT system took over..."

"I see. I'll try not to be too harsh on her then." Chifuyu replied, before she turned away once more.

"Goodbye Ichika. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, his sister walked out of the room, the door sliding shut behind her.

A few moments later, the door slid open again, and five girls rushed into the room.

"Ichika!" They all called out in unison as they came to a stop alongside his bed.

"Hello Houki, Rin, Cecilia, Charles, Kanzashi." Ichika greeted, addressing each one of them in turn.

"Ichika-san, are you alright?" Charlotte spoke first, the disguised girl's features showing nothing but concern.

"Don't worry Charles, it looked worse than it really was." Ichika replied, which did not put the girls' concerns at ease at all.

"What do you mean Ichika? I saw where you were bleeding from! At least two of those places... a deep cut there is supposed to be lethal!" Houki replied, causing the other girls to gasp.

"Don't worry Houki, it came close, but ultimately my pilot armor saved me. Thanks to it, those attacks missed anything vital." Ichika replied, smiling, only for Rin to draw back her hand, just barely restraining herself from slapping him across the face.

"Ichika you idiot! What matters is that you were bleeding out there in the first place! Why did you even put yourself in danger like that anyway? If you weren't injured right now I would-" Rin's rant was prematurely cut off by Kanzashi raising her hand.

"Ichika-san... Why didn't your ADS stop that thing's attacks? Shouldn't your ADS have activated when your shields reached zero?" The blue haired girl asked timidly.

"Wait, did you just say that his ADS didn't activate?" Cecilia's eyes widened as she turned to Kanzashi.

"Y-Yes-" Kanzashi replied, causing the blonde to turn back to Ichika, her eyes wide.

"Ichika-san... Remember when we were demonstrating IS maneuvers and you told me that you could deactivate your unit's PIC? Does that ability extend to your ADS as well?" Cecilia asked. After a few moments, Ichika nodded hesitantly.

"YOU IDIOT!" At that admission, Rin did end up slapping him.

"What could you have possibly gained from doing something like that?" Houki demanded.

"Yeah Ichika! Why would you do something like that?" Charlotte asked.

"Your IS unit's ADS was checked before the tournament began, so you must have had it active then, so you must have deactivated it during the tournament..." Kanzashi muttered, more to herself than to him.

"Well... You all know how the ADS drains a lot of power, even when it's not fully active, right?" Ichika asked.

"Yes..." The assembled girls replied hesitantly.

"Well, you see, if I were to deactivate my ADS, a significant amount of power would be freed up, allowing me to regenerate shield energy in battle." Ichika explained, causing the girls' eyes to narrow.

"But then why didn't you reactivate it when your shield energy ran low?" Charlotte asked.

"I couldn't. It takes a while for the ADS to recharge before it can become useful again." Ichika replied, causing the girls to start berating him again.

* * *

As Ichika was frantically explaining things to the girls around him, a pair of heterochromatic eyes, one red and one a bright gold, snapped open, coming to rest on a familiar shadow towering over her.

"I... Instructor... What happened?" Laura whispered, her voice hoarse.

"A barely avoided political catastrophe. Most of the real details have been classified, but much of the data has indeed came out. Very few people know the truth, and they are staying silent for obvious reasons. Most people believe that it was simply a prototype IS unit undergoing a critical malfunction in one of its systems... Which, I suppose, is the case." Chifuyu was silent for a moment, before continuing.

"Laura, what do you know about the Valkyrie Trace system?"

"The VTS? I remember overhearing my superiors talking about it once, but other than that..." Laura trailed off.

"I see. The Valkyrie Trace System is currently the only non-WMD system that has been banned from being used on the IS. For reasons that are as of yet unknown to me, that system was equipped on your IS. Apparently, it was only set to activate when the IS had both taken a certain amount of damage, and the pilot's will and mental state met a set of requirements. At that point, it assumes direct control of the user's IS, regardless of the pilot's wishes for the contrary. The pain that shot through you when you activated it was the result of it forcefully cutting off the empathic interfaces that all IS units use to interface with their pilots."

"So... So it happened because I desired it?" Laura murmured.

"Not for it specifically, but for something that will allow you to gain victory. Such thought processes are normal for a person in your situation at the time. It is only because you were unaware of the presence of the VTS and what would have happened that I have refrained from harshly punishing you. After all, the VTS nearly killed my younger brother... And had that happened, your safety would not have been assured." Chifuyu replied.

"Orimura Ichika..." Laura murmured at the mention of her Instructor's sibling.

"Instructor, why did your younger brother not run?" Laura asked.

"What do you mean?"

"When the VTS activated, why did Orimura Ichika not attempt to escape? His IS was faster than the Valkyrie Clone, and he had plenty of time to grab his disabled friend for extraction, so why did he not do so?"

"I honestly don't know. If I were to guess, I don't think the option passed through his mind at the time. It may have been because of whose form the clone took-" Laura bowed her head in shame at that, "Or maybe it was because he wanted to save you."

"Me? Why would he want to rescue me? I was his enemy at the time."

"You know that Ichika woke up a few minutes earlier than you did? I asked him the same question when he inquired as to your status."

"And what did he say?"

"He said that, after seeing how much pain you were in from the VTS, that he decided to rescue you as well. Apparently, he thought that not even you deserved to suffer to that extent."

"I... I see..." Laura was silent after that, her mind flashing back to the arena, when she was finally cut loose. Looking down at her body, she saw that a hole had been burned through her pilot suit, although the damage to her body had long since been repaired.

"Laura Bodewig." Chifuyu called out, drawing her full attention once again.

"Y-Yes Instructor?"

"Who are you?"

"I... I am..." Laura's mind drew a blank as she tried to think of an answer to that simple question. She knew what she was, Test Subject 037, Thirty Seventh living subject of the Bodewig program, designation 'Laura Bodewig', clone number 099. She had been made from genetic material donated from Dr. Hans Bodewig and Col. Kathe von Braun, being one of two clones to use that specific combination. She was trained in all fields of combat, from shooting and maintaining a rifle to flying a fighter aircraft. She was the best pilot of the Schwarzer Hase. She piloted the Schwarzer Regen. She was the best of all her brothers and sisters in all fields, even after she received her new eye. She was all those things, but she couldn't answer her Instructor's simple question.

Taking her silence as an answer, Chifuyu decided to answer for her.

"I see. If you do not consider yourself to be anyone, then that is convenient. From now on, you are Laura Bodewig. You are not me, nor can you ever become me, or anyone else for that matter. You are you. That is all that matters." Chifuyu sighed, before standing up. Before she left, however, she addressed her wide eyed student one last time.

"Oh, and one more thing. I have decided to forgive you this time, but if you ever do something like that to my brother again, you may consider your life forfeit. That is all." Chifuyu finished speaking, before she turned and left the room, leaving Laura alone once again to ponder what Chifuyu had just told her.

Who was she? According to her superiors, she was a soldier, designed specifically for that purpose as if she were a weapon. However, according to her instructor, she was Laura Bodewig. Her mind then flickered to the last image she had seen before she passed out in the arena. It was that of a bleeding knight in broken, fading armor, catching her in his arms. Suddenly, Laura understood exactly what Chifuyu meant.

Orimura Ichika did not save her because it was his duty, he did so because he wished to do so, because that was simply who he was, and in that sense, Laura Bodewig wasn't a soldier, or an ace IS pilot, or a genetically engineered supersoldier, although Laura Bodewig could be any one of those things. Laura Bodewig was Laura Bodewig, and Laura Bodewig could be whatever she wanted. Smiling at the simplicity of the solution, Laura fell back onto her bed, her soft laughter echoing through the silent infirmary.

* * *

"So anyway, it turns out that the tournament was called off, although in the interests of gathering data, the rest of the first round matches will still be held." Charlotte explained, answering one of Ichika's earlier questions.

"I see. Well, at least that means that everyone here that hasn't gone still has a chance to prove their skills." Ichika replied, gesturing at the three girls present that hadn't fought.

"Well, that is certainly good news! Although the final victory has been stolen from me by mere happenstance, I, Cecilia Alcott, will not allow this from preventing me from claiming victory when it is my time to fight!" Cecilia declared.

"Yeah! I am going to crush my opposition when it's my turn!" Rin declared.

"Oh? If you are so eager to do so, then I might just take pity and allow you to make a token contribution to my victory!" Cecilia replied. Given their personalities, the two girls were soon embroiled in a fierce but playful argument over who was the better IS plot. The two were still arguing when Maya entered the infirmary, a smile on her face.

"Orimura-kun! Dunois-kun! Good news! You've gone through a lot of trouble recently, but tomorrow, a place for you two to relieve stress will open up!" The smiling teacher exclaimed.

"Really? What is it?" Charlotte asked, her curiosity mirrored on the faces of the other girls present.

"It's the Boys' large bath!" Maya replied, causing everyone present to gasp.

"Really? They've made a whole new bath just for Ichika-san and Dunois-san?" Cecilia exclaimed.

"That's right! Now, unfortunately, I am not just here to deliver the news, as I have a few questions that I need to ask Orimura-kun here, and as some of them are rather sensitive in nature, well..." The cheerful teacher trailed off, getting her point across regardless. Begrudgingly, the girls left the room, although Houki stayed behind.

"I understand that you two are childhood friends, but this is for Orimura-kun's ears only, Shinonono-san." Maya said once it was clear that the girl wasn't intending on following her classmates.

"O-Oh! Sorry, Yamada-sensei, I just wanted to ask Ichika about a promise that he made to me..." Houki replied, turning to leave when Ichika spoke up.

"Don't worry, Houki-chan, I don't mind going out with you." Those words caused the long haired girl to spin around, eyes wide.

"What? Really? Are you really serious?" Houki exclaimed.

"Of course I am." Ichika replied, causing the long haired girl's eyes to widen even further, before she quickly composed herself, clearing her throat and attempting to sound aloof.

"R-Really? Why is that?" The now blushing girl asked.

"Because you're my childhood friend! Of course I'll go out with you! However, I do think that you should get going. We wouldn't want to waste any more of Yamada-sensei's time now, would we?" Ichika replied, gesturing to where the green haired teacher stood.

"O-Okay! I'll be going now!" Houki murmured dazedly as she left the room. As the door slid shut behind her, Ichika swore he heard her cheering. The infirmary was silent for a few moments, before Maya spoke up, her face now serious.

"I trust that she will not be a security leak?" Maya asked, pulling out a familiar black pouch, which contained both Ichika's datapad and his concealed firearm.

"Don't worry. I have no plans of leaking information to her." Ichika replied, taking his belongings and setting them down on his bedside table.

"It's not her that I am worried about. Rather, I am concerned about her sister. We don't know what kind of resources that woman has at her disposal, nor do we have any inkling of her motives. Everything she does seems entirely spontaneous, right up to the point where her greater plan is revealed. Believe me when I say that I know this more than most." Maya explained.

"What do you mean by that?" Ichika asked.

"Before I became your handler, my purpose here was to gather intelligence on Dr. Tabane's activities. That is still one of my jobs here, in fact. Anyway, before I was stationed here, I had to memorize any and all data we had on the Doctor, which isn't much. We know that she was the one who launched the missiles at Japan, an act assisted by what we think was the world's first AI. We know that she designed and built the IS cores, before combining them with stolen data in order to create the first IS, the White Knight, and used it to hold the world hostage and force the implementation of the Alaska treaty. We also suspect that she supplied Phantom Task with critical data involving the IS core, allowing them to start producing the Golem. However, while we know what she does, we have absolutely no idea what her true motive is! We know it isn't financial gain, as she hadn't sold her designs for profit, instead distributing them to various world nations. Political gain is unlikely as well, as she had a perfect opportunity to seize power right after the White Knight incident and didn't take it... I just don't get it..." Maya trailed off, lost in thought for a few moments before she blinked and shook herself out of her musings.

"Sorry Orimura-kun, I got a little carried away there. Anyway, I am here right now to give you both a report from Dr. White and your new orders regarding Prospective Recruit Sarashiki." The green haired agent said, pulling out a small flash drive from one of her pockets and handing it to Ichika, who pocketed it in turn.

"So what are my orders?" He asked once the drive was hidden away.

"Glad you asked. By the end of next week, you will be out of the infirmary, allowing you to participate in the actual recruitment of the younger Sarashiki. As per your request several weeks ago, I have requested that she be placed under your command, assuming that her recruitment is successful. I am pleased to report that the request has been approved." That news caused Ichika to smile.

"Good. It looks like Tatenashi-san will get her wish after all." Ichika replied.

"It was the logical thing to do. Now, regarding Kanzashi-san's recruitment, you will not be a primary participant. I will be doing most of the talking. You will only be brought in if she accepts, at which point you are to inform her of her new position."

"I understand, but what will happen if Kanzashi rejects our proposal?" Ichika asked.

"We will proceed as normal. We now have a supply of memory serum on hand, which means that in the event of rejection, we can simply erase her recent memories. At that point, you will step in and placate her. Tell her that she fainted, or something similar. Now, our second order of business involves your current rank in our IS corps. Until recently, you were a Wing Commander in name only, with nobody serving under you. However, assuming that all goes to plan, you will soon gain your second subordinate, which in turn means that your rank has been made truly official. The day after the recruitment of Kanzashi, your entire wing will be ordered to report to HQ, both to refit Kanzashi's IS and to brief you on the new responsibilities of your rank." Maya said.

"But wasn't I already briefed when I was promoted?" Ichika asked.

"As you were only a wing commander on a technicality, you were not given a full briefing at that time."

"Ah. I understand."

"Good. That's all for now." Maya smiled and turned to leave.

"Oh, and before I forget... The Boys' large bath will be open to ALL males on campus... Whether they are really boys or otherwise!" Ichika blushed as he realized Maya meant by that.

"Y-You mean-"

"Of course! Charlotte will also be allowed in... Indeed, it will be rather suspicious if she did not use the new facility. I trust that you will not take advantage of her situation?" Maya cautioned.

"O-Of course not! I would never do that!" Ichika denied.

"That's good to hear. Goodnight, Orimura-kun. I will ensure that you are left alone for the rest of the day." Maya smiled back at him, before she left the room.

Sighing, Ichika pulled out the flash drive that Maya had given him and plugged it into his datapad.

"Ori, can you secure the room?" Ichika asked.

"It's been secure ever since Maya-san entered the room. I've made sure of it." Ori replied, her avatar shimmering into existence as she spoke, causing Ichika to smile.

"Thanks Ori." Ichika replied as he pulled up the first file present. Quickly reading it over, he saw that the first four Organization MPTIS prototypes had flown successfully, and mass production had begun immediately afterwards. All pilots were given a choice of which design they would pilot, and that particular IS would be produced for them. This eliminated the need to design a new TIS for each pilot, while still allowing for a variety of IS units to be present in the Organization's IS corps.

The second file that was given to him was another set of MPTIS blueprints for him to look over. Evidently, the initial four designs were not enough.

The next file present was, surprisingly, a simple letter from Dr. White.

 _'To Orimura Ichika'_ The letter read.

 _I trust that this message finds you in good health, although given what happened in the arena, that is rather unlikely. Given what you were facing, however, I am quite surprised that you did not end up any worse for wear. Attached to this file is all the data regarding the Valkyrie Trace System that I could get my hands on, and I warn you, it's not pretty. That system was made illegal for a reason, and that's not just out of fear of a potential grey goo scenario._

 _Anyway, I am also writing this to inform you of several new developments that have emerged regarding Phantom Task. Approximately three hours before the tournament began, Organization fighters intercepted an unknown aerial contact over the South Pacific. This contact was identified as a modified version of the 'Golem' unit that attacked IS Academy one month previously. Both fighter pilots tailed the contact for approximately 48 minutes before it suddenly disappeared underwater, likely meeting up with a recovery submarine. No such submarine was detected, but we both know that Phantom Task is capable of building subs that are invisible to conventional sonar, and our Hyper-sensor suites can only detect them above a certain depth, even with AI assistance._

 _The presence of this Golem confirms our suspicions that Phantom Task is capable of producing more of them. This in turn has convinced Command to step up production in the IS department. Engineering has already started mass production of the new MPTIS units, and we in R &D have in turn been ordered to design more of them. That seems somewhat illogical to me, as the purpose of the MPTIS program was to eliminate the need to constantly design new IS units. Designing more and more MPTIS suits somewhat defeats the purpose of the program, but who am I to argue with the men in the Movie Theater?_

Ichika chuckled at that, remembering the nickname that Organization personnel had given the Mission Control room at Urup HQ.

 _Questionable orders aside, the R &D department has been very busy lately, as the true extent of Phantom Task's subsurface navy has taken us all by surprise. Engineering's been working non-stop lately producing a fleet of small picket boats, and I know that several hunter-killer subs are in production as well, and guess who's task it is to stuff those things full of cutting edge tech? Everything from improved detection gear and IS launch equipment to stealth equipment and new underwater weaponry. They've even started building a second engineering bay to keep up with production demands! As for where the resources for this are coming from... Let's just say that storing IS suits isn't the only use for alternate dimensions. _

_I could go on and on about what we're doing here in your absence, but I would rather not spoil the surprise for when you visit Headquarters next week. All this activity, however, points to something big in the works, likely an operation to cripple Phantom Task's naval capabilities, and if their subsurface fleet is half as big as the estimates say it is, even reservists like you will likely be involved. If that is indeed the case, I can only wish you good luck in the coming months._

 _I look forward to speaking with you once more._

 _Dr. Raymond White, Head of Organization Research and Development, IS Technology Branch_

Ichika frowned as he finished reading his teacher's message. If what it said was true, then the Valkyrie Trace system was the least of his worries, and Dr. White was not the kind of person to joke around with information of this magnitude. Sighing, he closed the message and lay back on the bed, watching red clouds slowly move across a dimming sky, illuminated by a rapidly setting sun.

* * *

Orimura Reikou grimaced slightly as she beheld Dr. Meusel's latest creation. The foul parody of a human being moaned softly, the agonized sound being the only noise its near-nonexistent vocal cords could produce. Its creator stood over it, a sick smile on his face as he inspected his handiwork.

"I assume that this is the organism that will be used in the new model of Golem?" The one eyed woman asked, causing the blonde doctor to giggle.

"Of course! This particular model incorporates several features not present in the prototype and test type, such as an enlarged brain and cranium for increased cognitive capability, removal or reduction of unnecessary organs, and an improved nervous system for faster reactions." Dr. Meusel replied, pointing to the bulbous head, the emaciated torso, and the clearly visible spinal column in turn.

"That is good to hear. I assume that meeting our Leader's request for a force of thirty operational Golems by the end of the month won't be a problem?" Reikou asked.

"As long as those uncouth apes in charge of producing the mechanical components can cobble together enough IS cores, that will not be an issue." The doctor replied, dipping a paintbrush in ink before applying it to the creature's forehead, drawing out three characters, Aleph, Mem, and Tav.

"I never took you to be interested in such things." Reikou pointed out as she saw the doctor's latest addition to his handiwork.

"It is a golem, right? It might as well look the part." The blonde laughed as Reikou walked up to the creature, examining it critically. The abomination's bulbous eyes tracked her every move, until she came to a stop right over its oversized head. Then, the woman tapped it hard over the Aleph on its head, and with a wet crunch, the thin layer of skull beneath the character gave way. With a final moan, one that almost sounded grateful, the creature ceased to exist.

"Was that also intentional? If I could break it so easily, I shudder to think what actual weaponry would do to it." Reikou remarked, pulling away her now crimson finger. The blonde doctor merely tutted in disappointment.

"Was that really necessary? We both know that this particular unit hasn't undergone cybernetic implantation yet. Its bones are bound to be weak." The doctor sighed, before pressing a button on the nearby wall. The table on which the creature's corpse lay suddenly tilted, and the creature slid off, falling into a long chute. The glow of an incinerator was barely visible at the bottom.

"I thought you were over the stage of impulsively breaking other kids' toys like a schoolyard bully, but I guess I was wrong." The doctor shook his head mockingly as his creation's body slid down the chute, to its inevitable incineration.

"Do not test me, Meusel. There are several men here that can replace you should you get too... annoying." Reikou growled out, causing the doctor's eyes to narrow.

"You're barking up the wrong tree, Dog. You have absolutely no authority regarding my position here, and even if you were to bring up the topic of replacing me..." Dr. Meusel hit another button, causing the wall behind him to slowly retract, revealing a massive tank filled with orange nutrient fluid... but that wasn't all that it contained. Floating inside, each bound up by a series of tubes, lay hundreds of grotesque Golems. As the lights above and below the tank switched on, their bulbous eyes snapped open as one, and over four hundred inhuman pupils focused on the occupants of the room.

"You see Ori, as long as I provide our Master with these little pretties, I am irreplaceable, and we both know it." Aaron Meusel gloated as Reikou gazed at the occupants of the massive tank. Some of the Golems were emaciated pilots, much like the one that she had just killed. Others were huge, with inhumanly large muscles and thick, ugly skin, covered in attachment ports for armor plating. These were clearly designed as disposable, heavy footsoldiers. Still others seemed specifically designed to look inhuman, with long claws, sharp fangs and webbed feet. These were by far the most common, and unlike the others, which simply twitched occasionally, they were actively struggling against their restraints, growling silently in their aquatic home. Several had managed to break free, and were swimming around the tank, attempting to free more of their brethren.

"Hmm... Numbers 109 and 111 seem particularly intelligent. Perhaps too much so, but since when has too much of anything mattered?" The mad doctor muttered, looking at two such monsters that were working together to free another of their kind.

"What is this?" Reikou asked, her voice carrying only the faintest tinge of revulsion.

"Oh, you mean this?" Aaron asked, gesturing towards the tank.

"This, my dear Ori, is the future of Phantom Task!"

* * *

 **A/N: My apologies for the delay of this chapter. I have only myself to blame for my laziness, as this was sitting in my Documents, nearly completed, for almost a week before I finally decided to get to work on it once again. As such, I decided to lengthen it slightly, including the scene with Phantom Task at the end. I have to admit that Dr. Aaron Meusel is a very fun character to write, as is Laura Bodewig, once I got the hang of her character. Also, I couldn't help but notice that this is my first fic to go over the 100k word count! Yay!**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the story, as I know I enjoyed writing it! I will update The Declassified Files with info from this chapter as soon as possible, and then get to work on the next update to that particular pseudo-fic. For those of you who don't know about it, Agent Orimura: The Declassified Files is a pseudo-fic I am working on that contains detailed information on the various technology used in the Agent Orimura-verse. The link can be found on my profile.**

 **Once again, I hope that you enjoyed the story. Please read, follow, fav, and review at your discretion. Enjoy!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: The IS Wiki states that Clarisa Harfouch is a Lieutenant in the German armed forces. Due to them not specifying 1st or 2nd Lt. and me not getting a clear view of her rank insignia, I have decided to rank her as an Oberleutnant, or the German equivalent of 1st Lieutenant. By that logic Laura is ranked as Hauptmann, as that is the German equivalent of Captain. Please correct my German if I make a mistake.**

 **Chapter 10**

In spite of the events of the tournament, classes had not been cancelled, and Ichika seamlessly integrated himself back into the normal day-to-day routine of IS Academy once he was released from the infirmary.

Thus, Ichika found himself sitting in his seat in Classroom 1-1, listening to his older sister lecture on IS combat tactics. Occasionally, he would glance over to the empty seat where Laura had sat only two days before, the empty desk being the only visible evidence that something had occurred the day before. Laura herself had remained in the infirmary, as several specialists had to be flown in from Germany to perform more detailed medical examinations on her. Of course, despite the veil of secrecy surrounding the whole debacle, the IS Academy rumor mill had once again proven its worth, having arrived at the correct conclusion within three hours of the tournament's premature end. Granted, the rumor of it being a secret and illegal German prototype was promptly discarded in favor of it being a hacking attempt by an anonymous student that wanted to have her way with an injured Ichika, but still, Ichika mused, the students of IS Academy could easily be made into a crack espionage unit with only a little training and a lot more discipline.

"Orimura! As you have shown yourself to be proficient in IS combat, please explain to me when it is not appropriate to do an evasive roll in an IS?" His older sister's voice snapped him back to reality.

"An evasive roll is not appropriate when you are either very close or touching the ground. In addition, when facing scattering weapons, a simple roll may not be enough to get you out of the way of the enemy's field of fire. Finally, when facing homing weaponry, you should be very careful in the timing of your rolls. If you roll too early, the missile will have time to compensate and adjust its course, while if you roll too late, you will not be able to complete the maneuver in time." Ichika replied.

"A good answer. Sit down." Chifuyu smiled faintly, and he obliged.

"Alcott, as your IS is based entirely around ranged combat, tell me what you are supposed to do in the event that you cannot hit your opponent?" Chifuyu's next question was directed at Cecilia.

"If I do not have a partner available, I would first determine the opponent's movement patterns, how she dodges, and what she does afterwards. Next, I will use what I have determined to force them into a situation where they can be hit. Once I have landed my first shot, I press my advantage and finish the duel." The blonde replied, casting a quick glance at Ichika, as if asking him to confirm her answer. He smiled back at her in response.

The rest of the class passed in a similar manner, with Chifuyu lecturing and asking an occasional question to ensure her class was paying attention. Before too long, it was over, and the students were free to do as they pleased. For Ichika, that meant heading up to his dormitory and finishing up his evaluation of the IS blueprints that were sent to him the day before.

"So Ichika, what are you doing?" A familiar voice asked, several hours later.

"Oh, this? Well, I'm technically not supposed to show you, corporate secret and all." Ichika replied, saving and closing the reports.

"Do all corporate representative candidates have to do things like that?" Charlotte asked, sitting down beside him on his bed.

"It depends. For me, I have to not only submit regular reports on the performance of my own IS, but also evaluate the various possible designs that our company may produce in the near future." Ichika replied.

"I see..." Charlotte replied.

"So what about you? Aren't you representing the Dunois corporation? Don't you have to do anything like this?" Ichika asked, maintaining his cover story.

"Oh, no, I'm the Representative of France. Besides, since my IS lacks any real experimental technology, I don't have anything to report, aside from... well... you know..." Charlotte's face fell.

"You mean your supposed progress in stealing data from me?" Ichika asked.

"Yes, that... I've been sending false messages to my father for a while now, and he's getting impatient. Not to mention that he was there, watching our match against Laura..." Charlotte trailed off again.

"So he's seen you using my laser rifle?" Ichika asked.

"Exactly, and now he's demanding that I send him the data on it." Charlotte replied.

"I see. So what will you do?" Ichika asked.

"I... I don't know..." Charlotte sighed.

"Don't worry. It's not like he can do anything to you while you're here. You can keep him waiting as long as you like." Ichika smiled.

"But what do I do when I have to leave? As soon as the holidays begin I am required to return to France and report everything to him!" Ichika's smile turned predatory at Charlotte's admission.

"You just leave that part to me, Charlotte."

"What are you going to do?"

"You will see." Ichika made a mental note to meet with Maya as soon as possible.

The room was quiet for a moment, before Charlotte's face brightened.

"A-Anyway, enough about that! I heard that the boys' bath is finished, so..." Charlotte blushed.

"That's a great idea Charlotte! I haven't had a chance to clean myself off since the tournament, so a bath sounds really nice right now." Ichika said, standing up.

"A-Alright!" A blushing Charlotte stood up as well.

"What are you doing?" Ichika asked.

"I-I'm going with you." Charlotte blushed even further.

"W-Wait! I thought we were going to take turns using it!" Ichika exclaimed.

"I... I wouldn't mind..." Charlotte murmured, too softly for Ichika to hear properly.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you. What did you say?" Ichika asked.

"I... I said that it would look suspicious if only one of us was seen using the bath at a time..." Charlotte blushed even further and looked away. After a few stunned moments, Ichika sighed and looked away, a blush spreading across his face as well.

"F-Fine... I won't look, I promise." Ichika said, and left the room, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead.

* * *

As luck would have it, Ichika was the first to enter the bath, sighing in relief as he entered the steaming water. Sinking down until only his head was visible, he closed his eyes and leaned back, half floating, half resting against the floor.

"I-Ichika... I'm coming in... Sorry for the intrusion!" A nervous sounding Charlotte exclaimed as she entered the steaming room. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for her, the steam did little, if anything, to hide her body from Ichika's eyes.

Said boy blinked twice as he involuntarily stared at the rather attractive girl who stood naked at the edge of the bath.

"D-Don't stare so much... Ichika no ecchi..." Charlotte said as she entered the water.

"S-Sorry!" Ichika exclaimed, struggling against millions of years' worth of evolved instinct to close his eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Charlotte asked, sinking underwater, allowing Ichika to crack one of his eyes open.

"I-It's not th-that, i-it's just that-" Ichika stuttered, like any teenage boy would when in his situation.

"I-If It's bothering you, then I'll leave..." Charlotte said from somewhere off to his left.

"N-No, I should be the one leaving, I've already enjoyed myself." Ichika said, preparing to stand up.

"Wait!" At that, Ichika felt a hand cover his, and another body press against his back.

"I... I need to tell you something." Charlotte said, a slight touch of desperation in her voice.

"It's very important, so I want you to listen."

"I... Alright." Ichika sighed. Was it just him, or was the temperature in the room increasing?

The pair sat back to back in awkward silence for a few seconds, before Charlotte spoke up again.

"I... It's about everything. My father, my position here, my staying at the academy... I've made my decision." Charlotte said, resolve now present in her voice.

"What do you mean?" Ichika asked.

"I intend to stay here, with you. It's because of you that I'm doing this." Charlotte said, placing her hand on his hip.

"R-Really?" Ichika asked, blushing further at the contact.

"Yes... Also, I've decided who I will be." Charlotte said, turning around, pressing her breasts into his back as she did so.

"Who will you be then?" Ichika asked, looking back to see his roommate's face inches from his own.

"I've decided that I will be Charlotte Dunois... I'll be the girl my mother always said I was, rather than the boy my father wishes me to be." Charlotte smiled.

"So you're going to reveal your true identity?" Ichika asked.

"You said that you would take care of everything... so I decided that I no longer needed to be my dad's puppet here." Charlotte said, leaning in until the distance between them was next to nonexistent. Ichika was silent for a few moments as he quickly thought things through, before he gave her his response.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you can stay here... Charlotte." Upon hearing those words, Charlotte leaned in even further, covering Ichika's lips with her own. His eyes widened at the sudden contact, but they were soon closed as he lost himself in the kiss. Unconsciously, he embraced her, just as she embraced him. The kiss lasted on for what seemed like an eternity, before finally, reluctantly, Charlotte pulled away, leaning back into his embrace, while her own arms remained wrapped around his neck.

"Ichika..." Charlotte sighed, staring into his eyes.

"Don't worry Charlotte." Ichika repeated, smiling down at the girl in his arms. "I'll take care of everything."

Both Ichika and Charlotte slept very soundly that night.

* * *

The next morning Charlotte woke up early, leaving Ichika alone. She was missing from the cafeteria as well, and when Ichika stepped into Classroom 1-1, he saw that she was missing from there as well. Laura Bodewig was there, although the silver haired girl was giving him a strange look when he entered the room.

The classroom filled up quickly, but Charlotte did not enter. Finally, Maya stepped up onto the podium in the center of the room and cleared her throat.

"U-Um... Attention everyone! Today I will be introducing a new student." Maya said, sounding like the timid, somewhat absentminded teacher that most people thought she was, rather than the focused and somewhat intimidating agent that Ichika knew was her real persona. Her declaration, however, caused heads all over the classroom to turn towards the entrance, and almost all the students gasped as one when Charlotte Dunois walked in through the door, wearing a modified female IS Academy uniform with a shorter than average skirt.

"My name is Charlotte Dunois. It is a pleasure to meet you all once again." Charlotte said, smiling.

"Um... It looks like Dunois-kun was actually Dunois-san all along!" Maya explained, causing a fresh wave of gossip to sweep the room.

"Wait, so Dunois-kun was actually a girl?"

"I knew there was something weird going on!"

"So she is is a cute girl instead of a cute boy?"

"Hey Orimura-kun! You were sharing a room with her, so you couldn't possibly have not known about this!"

"Wait a minute, wasn't the boys' large bath being used by both boys yesterday?" As soon as those words were said, the classroom wall exploded.

"ICHIKA!" An enraged Rin screamed from atop ShenLong as she quickly hovered over to him, her Impact cannons already charging.

"Rin, are you crazy? What the hell are you doing?" Ichika screamed as he began a partial deployment, the Infinite Arsenal's barrier taking form around him. However, no shots impacted against it, as someone else had stepped between the two of them.

Her AIC absorbing the shots and simultaneously immobilizing the ShenLong, Laura Bodewig stood between Ichika and his crazed childhood friend, clad in the Schwarzer Regen. Then, keeping her AIC deployed, the silver haired girl turned to face Ichika. Reaching down, Laura quickly pulled him up until their faces were level, before leaning in and trapping him in a deep French kiss. Too shocked to resist, Ichika simply blinked as Laura forced her tongue into his mouth. Then, several seconds later, Laura placed him back on the ground.

"I hereby declare you to be my wife. All objections are dismissed." Laura declared, a faint blush visible on her pale cheeks.

"WHAT?" The entirety of Class 1-1, which had until then been shocked into silence, suddenly cried out, causing both Laura and Ichika to wince at the volume.

Ichika blinked once.

"Wait, what?" He exclaimed as the words Laura spoke finally sank in. That was about when Chifuyu walked into the room. Ichika swore that when his normally stoic sister saw the damaged wall, her eye twitched.

"What happened here?" It wasn't a question that was addressed to the now dead silent room, but an order. It was an order that Laura answered.

"At exactly 0800 hours, class began with the introduction of Charlotte Dunois, who has apparently been masquerading as a boy under the pseudonym Charles ever since she first entered the Academy. This revelation was enough to touch off a fresh wave of gossip. Less than a minute after Charlotte's gender had been revealed, Representative Candidate Huang entered the room via the west facing wall, using the ShenLong as a method of entry. She promptly assumed a position directly in front of my betrothed, clearly attempting to murder him in a fit of passion. Of course, my new wife is more than capable in these situations, and promptly partially deployed his IS unit's barrier in a commendable display of reflexes." That statement actually caused the normally impassive Chifuyu to blink in shock.

"However, while my betrothed was more than capable of withstanding Pilot Huang's assault, I decided to do my duty as his fiance to defend him. Thus, I blocked the attack and neutralized the threat with my Active Inertia Canceler. Once I had confirmed that the threat was indeed eliminated, I turned to my betrothed and promptly informed him of his status as my bride. I intend to consummate my marriage as soon as possible." Laura declared, all with a straight face.

Chifuyu simply stared for a few moments, pinching herself on the arm before shaking her head in exasperation.

"It's too early to be dealing with this..." Chifuyu sighed, before addressing the class as a whole.

"Due to the damage done to the classroom, today's lesson will be held outside. Which is quite fortunate, as today's topic happens to be proper usage of ranged weapons. Representative Huang has kindly volunteered to be the target."

* * *

The rest of class boiled down to the entirety of Class 1-1 lined up around an immobilized ShenLong, practicing their shooting skills, while a rather irate Chifuyu spoke on the phone with Chinese officials. Of course, Rin was allowed the occasional break whenever her ADS triggered, at which point she would be given a few minutes to stow away her IS and recharge its shields, after which the shooting practice would start anew.

Class ended after several hours of constant target practice, at which point even Rin was starting to feel drowsy in her IS. After all, centering the target and (mentally) pulling the trigger switch would get extremely boring after an extended period of time.

After the students were dismissed, the brown haired girl followed Chifuyu up to her office, and emerged nearly an hour later, looking rather sober. Apparently, her representative candidacy was in jeopardy of being revoked, in fact, judging by the information Ori had gleaned from tapping into the communications going in and out from the academy, the only reason that Rin didn't have her candidacy revoked was due to her high IS Compatibility score.

Of course, Chifuyu still had her own personal quarrel with the Chinese girl, as she had assaulted her younger brother. Hence the figure now running around the IS Academy track, a second, taller figure in pursuit, just barely visible from the window of Maya's office.

"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Maya asked from where she sat behind her desk.

"I have a potential security leak to report, and I would like for it to be dealt with, preferably before the holidays begin." Ichika replied, leaning against the windowsill while looking out across the Academy grounds.

"Let me guess. Does this have to do with Dunois-san's deception?" The green haired Intelligence agent asked, a faint smile on her lips.

"Yes, it does. I assume you are aware of the reason behind her masquerade?" Ichika asked in turn.

"I am. She was sent here by her father in order to steal data about your IS in order to facilitate the production of third generation French IS suits by the Dunois Corporation. I assume you want her father dealt with?"

"Exactly. From what Charlotte has told me, he is demanding access to the data on my new FEL Rifle, and will likely demand much more than that in the near future. I personally have a strong suspicion that, should Charlotte's method of data acquisition not prove as effective as he had hoped, he will likely take more overt action to get his hands on the Infinite Arsenal, and on the off chance that he succeeds... I am sure you already know the consequences." Ichika explained. Maya laughed in response.

"Looks like you're already living up to your nickname, 007. Seducing and turning female spies... The boys back at HQ will have quite a laugh over that fact! On a more serious note, what course of action would you recommend we take against this threat?" Maya asked, quickly composing herself.

"You're asking me? I thought this was your job."

"It is, but you are the one with the turned spy on your side. I am simply asking for your recommendation."

"I see. Well, from what Charlotte has told me, her father's company is in rather dire straits thanks to its inability to produce a third-generation TIS, to the point where their IS Development Rights are at risk of being revoked. However, getting those rights revoked is not enough, as that will likely lead to an act of desperation on Dunois' part." Ichika explained.

"I see. Is there anything else?" Maya asked.

"I was getting to that. Now, as I was saying, merely applying political pressure and revoking said license is not enough. However, the political approach is not the only angle of attack available to us. After all, while the Dunois Corporation was once the world's leading producer of MPIS suits, it is now beginning to struggle financially, as their contract for the Raphael Revive has expired, and the nations that they have exported Revive variants to are now considering replacing them with newer models from America and England. I believe that economic sabotage of some sort, when coupled with increased political pressure, can easily drive the Dunois Corporation into the ground."

"I see. If I remember correctly, our Organization has ties with a company that is currently in direct competition with the Dunois Corporation. That would be a viable venue for economic attack, and can be used to pressure the target politically as well. However, these are all general strikes against the Dunois Corp. as a whole. Do you have any suggestions that can be used to attack Raphael Dunois personally?" Maya asked. Ichika thought for a few moments, before replying.

"The main reason that Charlotte tried so hard to keep her secret is because her father was likely threatening to reveal her secret to the media should she fail. After all, the story of a bastard child who, in an attempt to curry favor with her father, forged her identity and tried to steal corporate data from one of her trusting classmates would ruin her. I propose we do something similar, but twisting the truth in order to target Raphael instead of Charlotte. Just think about it: A daughter abandoned by her father, called back on the day her mother died and blackmailed into spying on and stealing from one of her friends in the name of corporate greed. A story like that, if released via the right outlets, could cause quite the scandal, don't you think?" Ichika suggested. Maya blinked once in response, clearly not expecting an answer in such detail.

"You should have gone into Intel, Orimura-kun. A bit of training, and you would have been a master at media manipulation. However, such a plan would require Dunois-san's cooperation in order to work to its fullest. I can arrange for political and economic pressure to begin immediately, but I would like for you to reach an agreement with Charlotte before I leak the story. Persuade her to agree with your plan if necessary, then work out a plan for how she will respond to the 'news' of her story being leaked. Once that is done, report exactly what you have agreed to back to me, and I will send the result to the boys in media manipulation. Assuming they do their job correctly... Well, let's just say that Raphael Dunois' days are numbered, and if they don't... Well, if worst comes to worst, we can always order an assassination."

"A-Assassination? But-" Ichika exclaimed at that last part.

"Don't worry, I was just joking. We're not going to assassinate someone just because he blackmailed your girlfriend. Although that would make meeting her father so much easier." Ichika blushed, both in embarrassment and no small amount of fear.

"You have a strange sense of humor, Yamada-san." Ichika said.

"You're not the first person to say that to me, Orimura-kun!" Maya smiled in response. It was the exact same smile that she constantly wore on her face in the middle of class, but in the small office room it seemed much scarier to its only beholder.

* * *

That night, Ichika slept alone in his room for the second time during his stay at IS Academy. However, while Ichika was sleeping, another figure was moving through the halls, her eyepatch removed, allowing for her to use the golden sensor beneath to see perfectly in the darkened dormitory building.

1023, 1024, 1025!' Laura counted the room numbers in her head, stopping when she arrived at her destination. Quickly looking under the door to see if there was any light on inside, she smiled when she saw that the room within was just as dark as the hallway outside.

"Clarisa, come in. I am outside the target's room. Target appears to be asleep. What is a preferable course of action?" Laura whispered into her phone, the instrument's screen not emitting any light.

"Understood, Hauptmann Bodewig. Do you have a method of entering?" Oberleutnant Clarisa Harfouch answered from the other end of the line.

"I do." Laura replied, holding up a simple keycard that she had 'acquired' from a janitor earlier that day.

"Good. Proceed with entry. After you do so, be sure to carefully examine your bride's belongings for evidence of infidelity. Once that is done, you may enter his bed and proceed to sleep with him in order to consummate your marriage. As he is asleep, you must take great care in order to avoid waking him. Don't worry though, you scored the highest of all of us on the stealth examinations, so you should do fine in that regard. Before you proceed, however, I must warn you that I will not be able to contact you once you have entered your bride's room. You will be on your own from there on out." Clarisa replied.

"I understand. Thank you, Oberleutnant Harfouch." Laura replied.

"You're welcome. Good luck, Hauptmann." At that, the line went dead. Laura sighed in relief. When she had first brought up the issue of Ichika with her subordinate, she was worried that her problems would be dismissed as trivial, but Clarisa had pulled through for her. Even with such a limited amount of time to gather intelligence, she had managed to discover everything that Laura needed to know with regards to Japanese romantic customs! Then again, Clarisa was the oldest living clone to be produced by the Bodewig program, and thus, she was the wisest and most experienced as well! Back when Laura was still growing into her role, Clarisa was the one with all the answers. She was the one to go to whenever one had a question about which part went where when assembling a rifle, or which shell was High Explosive and which one was APFSDS! She was even the one that taught Laura how to read and write, so of course she would know what to do in a romantic situation! Laura felt silly for ever doubting her faithful subordinate's ability.

Quickly inserting and retracting the keycard, Laura tiptoed into her bride's room. A quick inspection showed him to be asleep, just as expected. After all, even someone as skilled as Ichika needed his rest!

Closing the door behind her, Laura stealthily made her way over to the table beside her bride's bed, noticing the black pouch sitting on it. That would be the most likely place for any evidence of infidelity to be kept, so Laura quietly opened it. Looking inside, she saw nothing but her husband's datapad and several neatly arranged documents. It seems that her bride was also very well organized! However, her implanted hyper-sensor had noticed some discrepancies present in the pouch's design. The main storage compartment was nowhere near as deep as it should have been in a pouch that size, so either the bottom was very thick, or there was a second compartment present.

Quickly analyzing the container for a second compartment, Laura noticed the two concealed latches on the black pouch's sides, disguised as ordinary silver decorations. Pressing down on both simultaneously, Laura was rewarded with the bottom of the pouch opening up, revealing a tiny firearm and four spare magazines.

Now, had any other girl found this particular item, she would have likely gasped loud enough to wake up the firearm's owner, leading to a tense standoff and a large amount of tension and drama. However, Laura was not any other girl. Where other girls her age were learning that firearms were dangerous, she was learning exactly where to aim one for maximum damage to the target. Where other girls assembled jigsaw puzzles, Laura stripped and reassembled assault rifles. Everyone she met while growing up carried some form of weapon on their person at all times, so to her, a weapon was just another item of clothing to be worn, concealed or otherwise.

So, instead of gasping in shock, Laura simply looked over to her sleeping bride and softly complimented him on his foresight in keeping such a weapon on him.

Quietly closing the weapon compartment, Laura made the decision to finally consummate her marriage, quickly taking off her clothing. After all, a husband and wife had nothing to hide from each other. As she prepared to join her bride under the covers, however, her eyes came to rest on the sheathed knife also lying beside the bed.

"Oh Ichika, you're so smart, but you forgot one little thing." Laura murmured softly, reaching for the knife. She promptly dove under the covers and, careful so as not to wake the blade's owner, strapped the knife back to the leg where she knew Ichika normally kept it.

Her bride now properly armed, Laura finally replaced the eyepatch before nuzzling into Ichika's chest. The last thing she felt before she fell asleep was the feeling of Ichika unconsciously embracing her in his sleep.

* * *

Laura was not the only girl up and about that night, as the lone figure standing at the entrance to one of IS Academy's practice arenas proved. Shinonono Houki had stayed up late practicing her piloting skills, and had just stowed away her IS after a long, but uneventful session. However, her practice was far from the foremost thing in her mind at the moment as she stared at her phone, debating over whether or not to call a certain number. Steeling herself, she pressed the button and put the phone to her ear.

"Hey, hey, all day, every day! Hi~! I'm everyone's favorite idol, Dr. Shinonono Tabane!" The high pitched, cheerful voice rang out from the other end of the line, causing Houki to grit her teeth and nearly put down the phone.

"Wait! Wait! Don't hang up Houki-chan!" Houki's older sister pleaded, causing the long haired girl to pause and continue the phone call.

"Nee-san..." Houki began, but trailed off.

"My oh my, my dear sister! Yup, I know what you're after! You want your own personal machine, don't you? I have it all ready of course! With the highest specs, it's better than even the latest cutting-edge technology! It's easily on par with Ikkun's black machine! The name of this machine is... Akatsubaki!" That bombshell alone was nearly enough to make Houki drop her phone in shock.

"W-Wait, you mean-"

"Of course! It took a lot of hard work, but everyone's favorite idol has pulled through once again! With Akatsubaki at your side, you won't ever have to pilot one of those little training IS suits ever again!" Tabane cheerfully explained.

"B-But I didn't-"

"Oh, don't worry, I've made sure that everything about Akatsubaki fits your combat style! Nothing but my best for my Houki-chan, after all! Now, is there anything you would like to tell your favorite Onee-sama?"

"Wha... Why did... When did you... How..." For once, Houki was completely rendered speechless.

"Don't worry Houki-chan! You'll find out soon enough! Bye bye!" With those words, the call ended, leaving Houki standing alone, her eye twitching in frustration at the conversation she had just had. It was just like every other conversation she had had with her sister since the debut of the IS, short and one-sided, and leaving her more frustrated than before. However, the bombshell that her sister had dropped was nonetheless coursing through her mind.

Akatsubaki. If she had heard right, that was the name of the IS that her sister was making specifically for her. It was the name of a machine that could supposedly surpass Ichika's Infinite Arsenal. Her mind was awhirl with possibilities, each more ridiculous and overpowered than the last. However, the real news was that she was getting her own personal IS!

Like every other girl in IS Academy, Houki had been tested for IS Compatibility at age twelve, and had managed to score above the 50 point base minimum that was required to activate an IS. Only half of all women in the world had that capability, and were thus ranked as E-grade pilot material. Of that half, only one tenth of them had a score above 60, which was the minimum needed to actually make an IS move. Those were the D-grades, and they were the lowest scoring students to be even considered for IS Academy admission. The ten percent of D-grade pilots that had a score above 70 were considered C-grade, and that was where Houki was ranked. While C-grade pilots stood a good chance of being accepted into IS Academy, they were not even considered for representative candidacy. No, that belonged to the ten percent of C-grade pilots that managed to score above 80, and even as a B-rank pilot, your chances of being a representative candidate were slim, although some particularly skilled C and B ranked pilots were considered for corporate representative status, assuming they did particularly well during a tournament and caught the notice of one of the VIPs watching. Only the A ranked pilots were truly considered for national representative status, and only one in ten B-ranked pilots had a score above 90 which was necessary for the A-grade. Cecilia Alcott was one of them, Rin was another, as was Charles... no, Charlotte Dunois. Laura Bodewig was also likely A-grade, given her representative status. Orimura Ichika, on the other hand, was ranked even higher, being classed as an S-grade pilot with a score over 100. While the ratio of lower to higher grade pilots for all other ranks was approximately ten to one, only one out of every hundred A-grade pilots was considered S-ranked.

The most common theory behind Ichika's ability to pilot the IS was that his natural, S-grade talent allowed him to overcome whatever prevented all other men from piloting. It was said that S-grade pilots felt the IS as an extension of their own bodies rather than a machine to be controlled, and were more at home in their IS suits than in their own bodies. Unlike Houki, they were naturally suited to piloting their IS suits, while she was a mere C-rank. A simply average pilot. Her merely average IS Compatibility score caused her representative candidate application to be thrown out after only being given a cursory glance. It was that score that prevented her from being considered for a Personal IS and left her as the only person in Ichika's rapidly growing circle of friends without a personal IS in her name.

However, if her sister was telling the truth, she would be getting her own personal IS very soon! What would that mean for her? After all, no matter what IS she piloted, her compatibility score would still be C-ranked for quite some time, unless she was one of the few pilots who managed to gain enough skill and become so closely attuned to their machines that their score would change grades. It was fully possible to raise one's score through hard work, but each new point was exponentially harder to gain than the last. For all her effort, she would likely remain a C-rank pilot. A C-rank with a personal IS, but still a C-rank!

Sighing, Houki leaned against the wall. This was not how she wanted to gain a personal IS. She wanted to become so skilled that she would draw the attention of a corporation, and thus become a representative candidate through her own personal skill! Instead, her sister comes along and tells her that she would get a personal IS anyway, regardless of her piloting skills!

Standing back up, Houki decided to head back to her room, her mind still in turmoil. She knew her sister meant well, but Houki didn't want to win through her machine alone!

That night, Houki's dreamed of a kendo tournament. She was winning every match effortlessly, but with every victory, there was less and less applause until only one voice continued to cheer. Looking around, Houki saw that the only person still watching her was Tabane, all the other spectators having long since left.

The next match started, and Houki focused her attention back on her opponent. However, to her mounting horror, she now held a glowing katana in her hands. A single strike, and her opponent lay on the ground, broken and bleeding. Houki's eyes widened in horror as she rushed over to her fallen opponent, her heart pounding and her lungs desperately sucking in air, hoping that against all odds, that her opponent had survived. As she turned over the figure's body, her heart nearly stopped as Cecilia's dead face gazed back up at her. Then, the blonde's body vanished in a shower of sparks, and the process repeated itself, the next match also ending in a single lethal blow. This time it was Charlotte who lay dead on the floor. Again and again, Houki literally slaughtered her opposition. Again and again, the bodies crumbled away, and again and again, her sister cheered. Finally, the last match came, and Houki recognized her opponent. As she unwillingly swung her blade at Orimura Ichika, Houki screamed. Then, the blade made contact.

Houki awoke with a strangled scream, causing her roommate to slowly wake up as well. It was still dark out.

"Mmh... Is it morning already?" The drowsy girl on the other bed murmured. Quickly apologizing, Houki fell asleep once again. The nightmare did not return, and by the time morning came, it had been almost completely forgotten.

* * *

As soon as he woke up, Ichika knew that something was wrong. Forcing his body to remain as relaxed as possible, Ichika slowly took stock of the situation. Firstly and foremost, he was no longer alone in his bed. A pair of arms now circled his waist, while a second pair of legs were intertwined with his, both pairs of limbs being attacked to a clearly feminine body that was even now pressed against his. His own arms were wrapped around the unknown girl as well, pressing her body closer to his. Judging by the sensations coming from his hands and legs, the girl was not wearing anything either. Finally, Ichika noticed that his knife, which he could have sworn he had taken off right before going to bed, was now strapped securely to his leg once again.

This meant that he was now in bed with a naked girl and a knife, neither of which had been there when he had gone to bed the previous night. Slowly, so as not to wake the intruder, he removed one of his arms and raised the blanket. His view of everything below his chest was blocked by a large mass of silver hair, hair that could only belong to Laura Bodewig. The removal of the blanket caused said girl to curl in closer, making Ichika all too aware of the fact that she was completely naked.

"Mmh... That doesn't... go there..." Laura murmured in her sleep, causing Ichika to blush.

"No... Ichika... put that... put that in there..." Laura continued as she snuggled in closer.

"Now take aim... and fire it..." Ichika blinked at that. Laura's dream wouldn't last however, as the silver haired girl's uncovered eye slowly blinked open.

"Laura?" Ichika asked.

"Mmh... Is it morning already?" The silver haired girl muttered, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Pinching himself to see if he was still dreaming, Ichika tried not to stare at the naked girl sitting on the bed right in front of him. At that, he failed miserably.

"Laura? What are you doing here?" Ichika asked, trying to keep his voice as level as possible, and once again failing miserably once Laura dropped the blanket that was covering most of her body.

"I have just slept with you. That means that we have consummated our marriage." Laura said, blushing slightly.

"Wait, what?" Ichika exclaimed, looking down to confirm that he was indeed fully clothed.

"Mhm... Now you are officially my wife." Laura said.

"What are you talking about? Why do you keep calling me that?" Ichika exclaimed.

"I thought that people in Japan call their loved ones 'My Wife', or 'My Bride'." Laura replied.

"Who told you that?" Ichika asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. In response, however, Laura grabbed his closest limb and pressed it to her chest, leaning back in the process. It was a classic armbar, designed to hyperextend and break the arm. It was also easy to counter, as Ichika demonstrated by grabbing his own hand and rolling into his opponent. By the time Laura had finished leaning back, she no longer held the advantage.

"It seems that you have received some training in grappling techniques." Laura said playfully as Ichika quickly secured his position on top of her.

"However, you can always use more practice." With those words, Laura quickly locked both his left arm and leg with her own and rolled him over. Unfortunately for both of them, Laura had forgotten that they were both on an elevated bed, and the two of them promptly fell to the floor.

"Ichika-san! Classes start soon! I'm coming in!" Cecilia's voice caused both occupants of the room to pause. The door promptly swung open, and in walked Cecilia Alcott.

"I understand it's hard to get out of bed on Monday morning, but-" Whatever Cecilia was going to say died in her throat as she saw Ichika and a naked Laura lying on the floor.

"Don't you have any manners? Barging into a married couple's room like that-" Laura began, but was cut off.

"M-MARRIED?" Cecilia exclaimed, the word evidently being enough to break through her shock. The blonde's eye began to twitch, and a furious scowl quickly formed on her face.

"W-Wait, Cecilia, this isn't what you think-" Ichika began, but was quickly cut off.

"STEP AWAY FROM MY ICHIKA-SAN YOU GERMAN HARLOT!" Cecilia screamed, a blue drone materializing over her shoulder. Fortunately for everyone involved, Cecilia's cry had attracted the attention of Ichika's older sister, who just happened to be nearby.

"What is going on here?" The older, black haired woman demanded as she entered the room. Cecilia hastily stowed away her drone, while Laura momentarily forgot that she was naked and snapped to attention, with Ichika doing so as well, albeit fully clothed. Chifuyu surveyed the scene, before turning to the most conspicuous out of all of them.

"Bodewig, what are you doing naked in my younger brother's room?" Chifuyu asked.

"I have just consummated my marriage with my bride. We were simply practicing our close quarters combat skills when Pilot Alcott entered our room without invitation." Laura replied. Chifuyu just stared at her for a moment.

"What do you mean by consummation?" Chifuyu asked.

"My wife and I have slept together. That is how it works, doesn't it?" Laura asked innocently.

"I see. Put your clothes back on and meet me at the track. You will be punished for obvious reasons, and then enlightened. Alcott, do you have anything to add?" Chifuyu turned to Cecilia, who stood seething next to Ichika.

"No..." The blonde ground out.

"If that is the case, then you are also to report to the track for unauthorized partial deployment of your IS. Another incident like this and word will be sent back to your sponsors in England." Cecilia's face shifted from enraged to worried at that.

"As for you Orimura-" Chifuyu turned her attention to him, but was quickly cut off by the other two occupants of the room.

"He has nothing to do with this!" The two girls cried out in synch.

"I see. Due to the damage done to the classroom yesterday, today's class will be another hands-on lesson. Orimura, you will be taking an active role in the demonstrations, so be ready. That is all."

With those words, Chifuyu left the room, Cecilia and a now clothed Laura following behind her and leaving Ichika alone in the room to get dressed and ready for class.

* * *

Sarashiki Kanzashi walked down the halls of IS Academy, her mind focused entirely on the message she had gotten earlier that day. It had been sent to her by Yamada Maya, the assistant homeroom teacher from Class 1-1, electronically right after class had ended, saying that someone important wished to speak with her in her office. As she turned a corner, however, all thoughts about the upcoming meeting vanished from her mind as she saw who was standing outside Maya's office.

"O-Orimura-san!" Kanzashi exclaimed, her eyes coming to rest on the boy that was leaning against the wall.

"Kanzashi-san? You must be the appointment that Yamada-sensei has scheduled before mine. You should head on in, I am sure she's waiting for you." Ichika responded.

"Wait, you know about it?" Kanzashi asked.

"Yeah, Yamada-sensei told me when I knocked. She just said that someone wants to speak with you, make you an offer of some sort. It sounded important, but that's all I heard." Ichika smiled at her once he finished speaking.

"I-I see... I'll head on in then, I wouldn't want to keep Yamada-sensei waiting!" Kanzashi smiled back, and entered the room. As soon as her back was turned, however, Ichika's face sobered. He knew that, one way or another, Kanzashi would not come out of that room unchanged.

As soon as Kanzashi entered the room, she knew something was amiss. For one, Maya was missing, and for another...

'WHAM!' The door slammed shut behind her, the window tinted itself, and the lights shut off. Just as quickly as the room had darkened, a holoprojection shimmered into existence, its dim, black light providing the only illumination in the room.

"Hello, Sarashiki Kanzashi." A deep voice, unnaturally so, spoke from several directions at once.

"W-Who are you?" Kanzashi asked, looking around frantically for a way out of the nearly pitch black room.

"Who I am is of no importance at this moment. What matters is the offer that I am about to make to you." The voice replied.

"And what is that offer?" Kanzashi asked tentatively.

"Employment. We are offering you the chance to work for us, Sarashiki. A chance that will only be given once." The voice replied.

"Out of the question. I don't even know who you are! For all I know, you could be Phantom Task trying to get your hands on the last of the Sarashiki family!" Kanzashi snapped, surprising even herself with the amount of venom in her voice.

"And if we were Phantom Task?" The voice asked, causing her to panic and send the mental activation signal to her IS... and nothing happened. She tried again and again, but her IS would not deploy! Outside the room, Ori reported to her handler that the Uchigane Niishiki's empathic interfaces were temporarily disabled.

"W-What did you do to my IS? I-I will k-kill you for this! And e-even if I don't, there a-are people who will hunt you down and end you for what you're doing!" Kanzashi screamed, trying and failing to keep her panic down. Then, just as she finished speaking, the lights turned back on, although the window remained tinted and the door locked.

"Congratulations. You passed." The voice replied simply.

"What do you mean, I passed?" Kanzashi growled out.

"Exactly that, Kanzashi. You see, your family is not the only group opposed to Phantom Task's activities. Our Organization is simply the largest of the various secret groups and paramilitary organizations that exist throughout the globe, fighting the secret war. Now that I have confirmed your immediate loyalty to the fight against Phantom Task, I would like to, once again, ask you to join us." The voice replied.

"Bullshit. If such a group actually existed, my family would know." Kanzashi replied.

"So your family knows everything about the multitude of 'new-age' techno-terrorist groups and the various local and global efforts to combat them? If so, then what can you tell me of the latest developments regarding the Neo-Socialist Party terrorist group's recent turf war with the Velikaya Rus? Or the ongoing underground conflict between spies from North Korea and the new age American vigilante group 'Eagle's Shadow'? What can you tell me about those?" The voice demanded.

"What does that have to do with Phantom Task? The Sarashiki family's only goal is the destruction of the organization known as Phantom Task! We do not keep tabs on other such organizations as of the moment."

"It has everything to do with Phantom Task. Both Velikaya Rus and the Neo-Socialist Party are receiving arms shipments from Phantom Task, usually in exchange for launching attacks at certain targets in Russia in order to soften them up for Phantom Task's own efforts, while the DPRK has been confirmed to be one of Phantom Task's sources of funding. Tell me, did the Sarashiki family know about this?"

When Kanzashi didn't answer, the voice continued.

"No, of course it didn't. Thanks to a series of Phantom Task raids that culminated in an attack on your family's headquarters, your organization is a shadow of its former self, with most of its members either dead, missing, or gone to ground. All known active members of the Sarashiki family have, as of today, been approached and made the same offer I gave you. They all accepted. Make of that what you will."

"What do you mean by that? Does that mean that-" The voice cut Kanzashi off mid-sentence.

"Yes. It means that your sister is one of us now."

"What... How dare she! After everything that has happened, she goes and turns her back on everything our family has sacrificed themselves for!" Kanzashi was livid once again, glaring at the inert ring on her finger as if her anger would be enough to force it into activity.

"Our goals run parallel to one another. She has not abandoned the battle against Phantom Task, merely gotten new allies. The Sarashiki family and our Organization are not mutually exclusive, after all." At that, Kanzashi's fists clenched, and she didn't speak for several long moments. Then, after several seconds of silence, she replied.

"What proof do I have of you actually doing anything? You claim to be fighting Phantom Task, but what do you actually do?" Kanzashi asked.

"Most of our current efforts involve eliminating Phantom Task's extensive subsurface navy, destroying their means of producing said navy, and prevent their 'Golem' Dummy-IS program from coming to fruition. As of today, our air forces have sunk a total of six subsurface vessels confirmed to belong to Phantom Task, while our rapidly growing surface fleet has, as of yesterday, claimed its first submarine kill as well. In addition, our IS corps have confirmed one Golem destroyed, three submarines sunk, and four surface installations destroyed in conjunction with our conventional armed forces branch. We have the data to back these claims up as well, just in case you were having doubts as to their veracity." The voice replied, causing Kanzashi's eyes to widen for a moment before her gaze became skeptical.

"And just where is this data?"

"Upon your joining, you will be authorized to view it. Until then, I am not authorized to disclose any more information regarding our operations."

"How convenient. Does said data even exist? What proof can you give me, here and now, that you are actually doing something?" The voice was silent for a few moments, before it spoke up once again.

"One of our Organization's members will be along shortly to provide you with some of the data you have requested." The voice said. Kanzashi turned to face the door, ready to face whoever was about to enter. To her surprise, the door did not open. Instead, a small hologram shimmered into existence. It was of a young girl, about half Kanzashi's age, wearing an Armani suit and a pair of black sunglasses. To Kanzashi, she almost looked like a younger, female Ichika, but that had to be a simple coincidence.

"Hello, Kanzashi-san. My name is Ori White. I am the first White-pattern AI to be produced by the Organization, and I have been authorized to provide you with the following data regarding the destruction of a Phantom Task submarine one month ago. Names, locations, and technical specifications have been censored in this particular document." The hologram explained, before a holoscreen flickered to life on the room's desk. Hesitantly, Kanzashi approached the screen. As she did so, the screen split, the top half starting to play a video, while the second displayed what looked like an after-action report. The audio of the video was constantly interrupted by the classic 'bleep' of censorship, while multiple sections of the offered document were also blacked out, but the message it carried was clear.

"Are these genuine? Documents can be faked, and creating a video like that with modern CGI, while difficult, is still possible." Kanzashi said once the video finished playing. At that, the voice simply sighed.

"Are you even considering accepting our offer? Or will you just continue questioning the veracity of everything I show you until I get sick of it and assume you are not planning on joining us?" The voice asked.

"Unless your little group can offer me definite proof that you are doing more than the Sarashiki family, I will not even consider joining you." Tatenashi replied.

"Have a seat then. This could take a while." The voice replied, while a single light on the ceiling illuminated a chair behind the desk. As soon as Tatenashi sat down, however, two manacles clamped shut over her arms, while a pair of belts snaked around her waist and legs, binding her in place. An arm behind the chair unfolded as well, holding a single, glinting syringe.

"What is this? What are you doing?" Kanzashi cried out as she was thus immobilized.

"A simple precaution, as the data we are about to share with you is considered highly classified. We must completely eliminate the probability of a leak." At that, a new holoscreen switched on.

"I assure you that everything you see during the following presentation is genuine." The voice clarified, and the presentation began. Over the course of the following hour, Kanzashi saw a condensed and edited version of the Organization's history. From its formation to the development of White-pattern IS Technology, up to its current state, Kanzashi saw it all. The voice and Ori were silent throughout the hour long presentation, and remained silent for several moments after the screen went dark.

"You do realize that, given what you have seen, you will only leave this room in one of two ways, and the first is as a new member of our Organization." The voice idly commented.

"And the other option is?" Kanzashi asked.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." The voice replied.

The room was silent for a moment, before Kanzashi began to laugh. It was a humorless, dry laugh that resounded through the small office as Kanzashi released her pent up emotions.

"Is something amiss, Kanzashi?" The voice asked. At that, Kanzashi only laughed harder.

"No, nothing's amiss, Voice-san." That caused a fresh wave of laughter.

"This entire situation seems like it was taken out of an anime. It feels rather... absurd." Kanzashi said as she finished laughing.

"I see. Now, for the final time, I will offer you the chance to join our Organization. This offer will not be made again. What is your response?" The voice asked, a sense of finality in the air.

"I accept." Kanzashi replied after a short pause.

"It's not like I have a choice in the matter now, do I?" She laughed again.

"You always had a choice, Kanzashi. We simply helped you make it. Now, due to your field of expertise, you have been assigned to the Organization IS Corps, and Dr. White has requested that you also be made a member of either Engineering or R&D. Your commanding officer will be here shortly in order to brief you on your new status."

"Wait, commanding officer?"

"Yes. I believe you already know him quite well. We will meet again." At that, the voice went silent, leaving Kanzashi alone to ponder the meaning of its words, only dimly noticing that she was no longer restrained. Just who was her commanding officer, and how did she know him?

As if on cue, the lights in the room switched back on, the door slid open, and in walked...

"Ichika! What are you doing here? Don't you know that-" Kanzashi began, standing up, but Ichika cut her off.

"Hello again, Recruit Sarashiki Kanzashi. I am IS Wing Commander Orimura Ichika, and I am your current commanding officer. Do you have any questions?" Ichika asked.

Words could not describe the amount of shock that had gone through Kanzashi's brain at her friend's introduction. Blinking once, twice, three times, Kanzashi slowly walked up to him, until she was standing directly in front of him. A few moments passed, before Kanzashi slowly and deliberately drew back her hand, and slapped her new commanding officer across the face.

"ORIMURA ICHIKA-SAN! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HAVE JUST GONE THROUGH? I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO A SHADOWY VOICE THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BELONG TO A TERRORIST I HAVE SWORN TO KILL TRY AND SUCCEED AT PERSUADING ME TO JOIN THEIR SHADY SECRET ORGANIZATION! THEN YOU WALK IN, CLAIMING TO BE MY COMMANDING OFFICER! IS THIS SOME SORT OF A JOKE TO YOU? IS IT? WHY I OUGHT TO TEACH YOU A LESSON ABOUT PULLING THINGS LIKE THIS!" Kanzashi exploded, screaming into a wide eyed Ichika's face.

'SLAP!'

"Kanzashi-"

'SLAP!'

"SHUT UP! WAS THAT VOICE YOURS GONE THROUGH A MODULATOR? WAS THIS ENTIRE SHOW ARRANGED BY YOU? DID I JUST END UP JOINING A SECRET PARAMILITARY ORGANIZATION ALL BECAUSE YOU HAVE A HORRIBLY SKEWED SENSE OF HUMOR? HUH? DID I?" Kanzashi paused to breathe, before drawing back her hand once again.

"Wait, Kanzashi-"

'SLAP!'

"NO TALKING!" Kanzashi drew back her hand once again, but this time, the blow was caught.

"Sarashiki! I understand that your treatment during recruitment may have been sub-optimal, but you can save the rant for this weekend while we are en route to base. I assure you that it was not me that spoke to you, nor was this all some elaborate joke. Now, do you have any questions regarding your new status as a member of the Organization?" Ichika asked again, his tone firm. Kanzashi's arm trembled in his grip for a few moments, before going limp. Just like that, Kanzashi's face fell, her anger replaced by simple despair.

"So it was all true then?" Kanzashi asked, her previously loud voice now a mere whisper.

"Yes. Is something wrong?" Ichika asked, concern plain on his face.

"Don't. Don't you dare act like nothing has happened! After all, everything we did before now was a lie, wasn't it? Your helping me with my IS, your friendship... All you were doing was preparing me for recruitment, weren't you? You were ordered to pretend to be my friend, weren't you?" When Ichika didn't answer, Kanzashi's hand clenched into a fist.

"It's not just me either, isn't it. Cecilia-san, Rin-san, Dunois-san... You have everyone here fooled, don't you? That damn smile of yours has the whole academy in your grasp while you plot how best to use them! We're all just tools to you, aren't we? Just objects that may be useful in the future-" Kanzashi's rant was cut off by Ichika leaning in, planting his hands on the blue haired girl's shoulders. His dark brown eyes gazed into Kanzashi's own red orbs that now sat mere inches away.

"Don't you ever think for a moment that I was not being genuine when I decided to befriend you. While it is true that I was ordered to get to know you in order to provide you with a smoother integration into the Organization, I consciously chose to become your friend, and a friend I will stay. Your new status simply means that we will be working together far more often outside of school than before. Do you understand?" Ichika asked. Kanzashi was silent for a moment, before she pushed past him, heading to the door.

"Kanzashi?" Ichika asked.

"Leave me alone." Kanzashi said simply as she walked purposefully to the office door. As she was about to open it, however, Ichika's hand once again came to rest on her shoulder.

"Your cover story is that you were made an offer by White-Sakamoto Innovations and accepted. You will be making a visit to WSI tower this weekend. Understood?" Ichika asked. Kanzashi nodded slightly as a reply, before shaking his hand off her and opening the door, leaving the room. The door slid shut behind her, hiding Ichika from view. Alone once again, Kanzashi began to walk back to her dormitory. Her walk soon became a jog, which became a full on sprint as she struggled to hold back tears. The first drops were already making their way down her face by the time she reached her room. Entering quickly, Kanzashi slammed the door behind her. Only then did she allow the dam holding her tears back to break as she curled up against the wall, sobbing softly.

She didn't know how much time had passed before the door opened again. It could have been minutes, or hours, or just a few seconds, but eventually, someone else entered the room. The figure's footsteps were quiet, almost inaudible, but Kanzashi immediately knew that the figure that had walked into the room and sat down beside her was her older sister.

"Kanzashi-chan..." Tatenashi said, trying to place her hand around sister's shoulders.

"What do you want?" Kanzashi spat, shrugging off her sister's attempted embrace.

"You accepted the offer, didn't you?" Tatenashi asked.

"Of course I did! Let me guess, I did the right thing, and I should be proud that I'm letting a secret organization use and discard me? Are you here to congratulate me for having the 'right choice' made for me?" Kanzashi hissed out, turning away from her sister. Tatenashi simply stared for a few moments.

"What happened in there, Kanzashi-chan? Please, you can tell me!"

"Nothing much! I just found out that someone I thought I trusted turned out to simply be out to use me to further the interests of his employers!"

"Who, Orimura-kun? Kanzashi-chan, Ichika isn't that kind of-"

"Yes he is! The only reason I know him is because he was ordered to befriend me in order for an easier recruitment process! Of course, you already know this, because you were in on it too! How long were you a part of this? How long has it been since you deserted our family? Answer me!" Kanzashi raged, causing her sister's eyes to narrow.

"I did not abandon our family!"

"Then why are you a part of this? Ichika was bad enough, but to find out that you were-"

"Enough Kanzashi! I joined the Organization barely a month ago, and I did so because I thought that it was the best way to finish what our family had started! Damn it Kanzashi, I joined so that you wouldn't have to!" Kanzashi snorted at that.

"Look how well that worked out. Now they have two more members."

"Please Kanzashi, all I wanted was for you to be safe-"

"Safe? What if I don't want to be safe? I'm not some fragile doll for you to protect, Tatenashi! All my life, I just wanted to be perfect like you, and every single time I tried, you made sure to remind me that I was just a spare! A backup in case you failed, and nothing more!" That certainly caused Tatenashi's eyes to widen.

"Kanzashi-chan... I..."

"You what?" Kanzashi asked, turning to face her older sister, who promptly leaned over and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tightly.

"I don't want to lose you. Not like everyone else." Tatenashi murmured, causing all the anger to dissipate from her sister's face.

"I was there when the attack happened. I saw our family die, Kanzashi. That's why I tried so hard to keep you safe, because I didn't want to lose you too." Kanzashi's eyes widened as she felt a slight wetness on her uniform. Was her older sister crying? Hesitantly, Kanzashi returned the embrace, the first one the two sisters had shared since the day their family was torn apart.

"All I ever wanted was to stand by your side someday... To have you look at me and see pride in your eyes... Why can't I have that?" Kanzashi asked, talking more to herself than to her older sister, but Tatenashi heard her anyway.

"You already do, Kanzashi-chan. You don't need to earn my pride because you already have it. You're my precious sister. My beautiful, strong, incredible little sister." Tatenashi was not the only sister crying by the time she had finished speaking.

"I... I'm so sorry... I've been treating you so badly... I'm a horrible little sister, aren't I?" Kanzashi choked out.

"Don't ever say that, Kanzashi-chan. We all make mistakes, but in spite of everything, you are still a little sister I can be proud of." Kanzashi smiled as her sister's grip tightened around her.

The two blue haired siblings remained wrapped around each other as the sun set outside, neither one wanting to end the moment that they had desired for such a long time.

"Tatenashi-san, I have a message for you... is this a bad time?" An unfamiliar male voice suddenly asked, breaking the silence in the room and causing Kanzashi to jump.

"Don't worry Tuman, it's as good a time as any." Tatenashi replied, speaking to the hologram that had appeared over her shoulder.

"Wha... Who is this?" Kanzashi stammered out.

"Oh, this? Kanzashi, meet Tuman. He's a White-Pattern AI that was assigned to me. He's the main component of my IS suit's new control system, and apparently he has a message for me." Tatenashi replied, gesturing to the tiny hologram that nodded curtly at the younger girl in the room.

"Wait, you said he was a White-pattern AI? Are there any others like him?" Kanzashi asked.

"Of course! Ichika's has had Ori with him for a while now, and there are hundreds of others at Organization HQ. When your IS undergoes refits, I'm sure you will get one as well."

"Yes, that appears to be standard procedure for members of the IS corps. Every member excluding trainees are currently partnered with an AI similar to myself." Tuman chipped in.

"Wait, Ori? So she's Ichika's AI?" Kanzashi asked.

"Yes, she is. Have you already met her?"

"Y-Yes, during the recruitment process."

"I see. Anyway, Tuman, you said you had a message for me?" Tatenashi turned to the AI that still stood at attention over her shoulder.

"Yes, I do. I have been ordered to tell you that both yours and Recruit Kanzashi's presence has been requested at Headquarters this coming weekend. You are to report to the White-Sakamoto Innovations tower on Saturday at 0900 hours precisely. Once there, Kanzashi is to surrender her IS for refits, before boarding a transport to HQ. Further instructions will be presented upon arrival. Any questions are to be directed to Wing Commander Orimura. If anyone asks for the reason you are leaving campus, you are to say that you have accepted an offer from WSI and are going there for evaluation." Tuman finished.

"I understand. Tell Yamada-san that we have received the message. I assume that Orimura-kun has gotten similar orders?" Tatenashi asked.

"Yes. Any questions about this are to be directed to him." Tuman said, before fading away, leaving the two sisters alone once again.

"Wait, you mean Yamada-sensei is also a member?" Kanzashi asked.

"Of course she is! Why else would the recruitment have happened in her office?" Tatenashi laughed.

"Are there any other members here?"

"No, so far it's just us, Yamada-san, and Ichika, as well as Ori and Tuman."

Kanzashi did not reply for a while, but she did eventually break the silence once again.

"Onee-chan..." When she did speak up, Kanzashi's voice was uncertain.

"What is it?"

"Well... Onee-chan, just who exactly is Orimura Ichika?" Tatenashi did not reply for a few moments as she thought of a response.

"That's a hard question to answer. Ichika-kun... He's a hard person to describe. I know for certain that he isn't some conniving chessmaster manipulating us all for his own purposes, but other than that I don't really know much about him. However, what I do know is that he is a good person."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You remember when he first started helping you with your IS? When I found out, I confronted him about it. Long story short, he promised to do everything in his power to ensure that you would always come back to me."

"What?"

"Yes, he did, and I know that he truly meant it. His friendship with you was real, Kanzashi. Ichika isn't someone who can fake a friendship to that degree."

Kanzashi remained quiet for a moment before sighing.

"I guess I owe him an apology." At that, she turned to leave, but she was stopped by her older sister.

"Ichika-kun can wait, Kanzashi-chan. Right now, we've got a whole lot of catching up to do."

* * *

 **A/N: And that's a wrap! Honestly, this chapter should have been out a week ago, but the very last section was giving me trouble. I still have doubts regarding the recruitment scene, but in the end I chose to roll with it. Anyway, I currently have this story planned out entirely all the way up to the end of the Gospel arc, after which I will likely take a short break from this story in order to write up The Declassified Files, release that, then get back to work on this.**

 **My current method of planning out this story involves simply imagining an epic scene, such as the opening battle of Chapter 1, or the first Golem fight, then figure our a logical way of tying them together while using canon as a guideline. This usually means that I have to occasionally (or not so occasionally) manipulate the timeline of Infinite Stratos, extending the periods between the events of the Anime, as canonically, much of the 'canon' events in this fic happened much closer together in time. Fortunately, this altering of the timeline does little to truly damage the storyline, whilst simultaneously allow for me to bring in more developments from the Noncanon side of things, as they have the time to actually happen.**

 **But enough rambling. I do hope you are all enjoying the story, as I have had quite a bit of fun writing it. The bedroom infiltration scene with Laura was particularly fun to write, and I do believe that she will continue to be a fun character to use, mainly because her personality seems a bit more 'well defined' in canon. Now, just because she's fun to write doesn't mean that she will be the one who gets Ichika in the end, although I do have very big plans for her on the romantic side of things...**

 **Anyway, that's all for now! Enjoy the story!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I originally wanted the first few sections of this chapter to be part of the previous one, but the recruitment scene ran way longer than I wanted it to, and I ended up releasing it as it was. Thus, this chapter is less a Chapter 11 and more of a Chapter 10.5.**

 **Chapter 11**

While Kanzashi and Tatenashi were reconciling with each other, Ichika himself had a different conversation to attend to.

"Charlotte? Are you in there?" Ichika asked, knocking on the appropriate door. A few seconds passed, before the door was opened and said girl ushered him inside.

"Ichika? What is it?" Charlotte asked as he sat down on the bed beside her.

"Do you want the quick version or the detailed version?" Ichika asked.

"The detailed version would be preferable." Charlotte replied.

"Very well. You remember what we've discussed in the bath, right? Well, I have since then made contact with several... associates of mine, and I am now in a position to strike directly at your father from three different angles. Politically and economically, my plans are already in motion, but before I attack him via the media, I wanted to ask your permission before I leak your story." Ichika explained.

"Wait, what do you mean, leak my story? And what kind of contacts do you have?"

"My plan to strike directly at your father involves leaking the story of a young girl blackmailed by her father into spying and stealing from one of her friends in the name of corporate greed. While I am sure your father has threatened to leak your story should you fail in your mission, I doubt it would have had a similar spin on it had he done it. As for my contacts, they would prefer to remain anonymous." Ichika explained once again.

"But wouldn't my father just release his own story to counter yours?" Charlotte asked.

"That is a very likely possibility, but with news like this, it all depends on which one is released first. If your father releases his own story after mine, it would look like he's desperately trying to save face as the CEO of a failing company, and that is exactly the image I want. Do you agree to this?" Ichika pressed.

"But... I don't know... How will you even-" Charlotte stammered, clearly overwhelmed.

"I may not be a journalist myself, but I have plenty of friends in high places. Being the world's only male IS pilot tends to make one famous, and many people in high places are willing to accommodate me because of my status. So, Charlotte, do I have your permission to do this?" Ichika asked. Charlotte did not reply immediately, her face thoughtful.

"What are the chances of this working?" She finally asked.

"I cannot give you an exact percentage, but I am very confident in the abilities of my associates to pull this off." Ichika replied.

"Very well then. Do it." Charlotte declared in response, her voice equal parts resigned and determined.

"Good. I'll make the call." Ichika smiled, before picking up his phone and, with Charlotte's curious gaze upon him, he called the number of one of his supposed contacts. In reality, this was one of several numbers that would put him in touch with Maya.

"Hello? Yes, this is Orimura Ichika." Charlotte listened to the one sided conversation that was taking place in front of her.

"Yes, I have spoken with her. Yes, I have gotten her permission." As the conversation continued, Charlotte couldn't help but feel that somehow, this entire conversation was scripted from the start.

"What do you want me to do? Really? I see... I will let her know. Is that all?" That piqued Charlotte's curiosity, but she decided to remain silent. After all, she would be informed shortly.

"I understand. Yes. It's been a pleasure talking to you again. Goodbye." With those words, the call ended, and Ichika turned back to face her.

"What is it?" Charlotte preempted him.

"Well, my contact is ready to release this story in about a week or so, and will send you a rough draft for your review three days from now. Once the draft is received, he wants us to decide exactly how you will react to this. After all, you cannot have known that your friend would do this for you." Ichika smiled as he spoke, although it was the smile of a conspirator rather than a simple friend.

"So you want me to lie on your behalf now?" Charlotte asked.

"No, I want you to lie for your own sake. Plus, it won't really be a lie, just an omission of truth." Ichika replied.

"But we're still lying to the presses! What if they-"

"They won't find out because you will be telling the truth as they know it. This conversation will not leave this room, after all, and you will still be telling them your true story. Just with a more... shocking twist to it." At that, Charlotte sighed.

"Very well. I'm already committed anyway, so what do I have to do?" She asked.

"Whatever you believe will have the most impact on the masses." Ichika replied.

"But I don't-"

"Don't worry Charlotte. You have a week to think about it, although I would prefer to hear it sooner rather than later." Ichika paused for a few moments, then spoke again.

"Say, Charlotte, how are you settling in? Are you getting along with your roommate and everything?" Ichika asked, changing the subject to a lighter topic.

"Oh, I'm doing fine! I've had some problems with my roommate initially, but Laura's a lot easier to get along with than she was before the tournament." Charlotte replied, sounding grateful for the change of subject.

"Wait, Laura is your roommate?" Ichika asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, she's actually quite cute once you get to know her." Charlotte giggled, doubtlessly remembering something that Ichika wasn't privy to.

"I see... Where is she?"

"Well, after class, Orimura-sensei took her aside and said something about 'educating' her about something or other, and she hasn't been back-" As if speaking of her was enough to summon her, Laura Bodewig burst through the door, her only visible eye widening when she saw Ichika.

"I-Ichika!" The silver haired girl exclaimed, before composing herself and continuing.

"Ahem. It is fortunate that you are here already, it saves me the time of looking for you. Now take off your clothes." Laura said, putting down the birdcage and stuffed bee in her hands and beginning to strip off her own clothing.

"L-Laura! What are you doing?" Charlotte exclaimed.

"I was informed earlier today that we did not properly consummate our marriage last night. Apparently, the proper process involves both parties being naked and apparently requires both a bird and some bees. Unfortunately, I was unable to requisition an apiary, so I was forced to settle for... sub-par materials." Laura gestured down at the plush bee that smiled back up at her.

"Wait, what?" Both Charlotte and Ichika exclaimed simultaneously.

"However, I was able to secure a proper bird, as evidenced by this fine example of a Norwegian Blue Parrot that I managed to purchase." Laura continued, unfazed by the shock of the other two occupants of the room.

"But parrots don't even live in Norway!" Charlotte exclaimed as Ichika examined the bird in the cage closely. It was unnaturally stiff.

"Laura, that parrot is dead." Ichika declared.

"No, the shopkeeper assured me that it was simply resting." Laura calmly explained as she finished removing her pants.

"It's not resting, it's clearly dead!" Ichika exclaimed.

"Hmm..." Laura's eye narrowed before she opened the cage and drew out the parrot. It swung stiffly from her hand. A short session of German wake-up calls later, and Laura was convinced.

"I see. It is good to know that my wife has such an eye for detail." Laura said, before unceremoniously tossing the parrot behind her, before calmly proceeding to remove her bra.

"Laura! What do you think you are doing?" Charlotte exclaimed, rushing over to cover up the now topless supersoldier.

"The Instructor has explained to me clearly and concisely that both parties must be naked in order to consummate their marriage. She also told me about a process that also has to happen before we sleep together. She called it 'The Birds and the Bees', which I can only assume is some sort of code name that only you would know about. Would you kindly elaborate on the process? I fail to see how birds and bees fit into it at all, as the Instructor simply told me that it would involve you thrusting your-" Whatever Laura was about to say was cut off by Charlotte clamping her hand over the silver haired girl's mouth.

"Laura, I believe that you are still lacking some crucial information. Ichika, could you please leave? I believe I have some... explaining to do." Charlotte smiled sweetly at him. Gulping at the hidden poison in that saccharine glance, and promptly left the room, mentally promising to pay Charlotte back for what she had saved him from. He did not need that much awkwardness in his life.

* * *

The weekends came all too quickly, and Saturday found Ichika, Kanzashi and Tatenashi all aboard a transport heading to Urup Island. Where the transport that carried Ichika to and from the WSI Tower had once been an ordinary CH-47 Chinook helicopter, it had been heavily modified, to the point that its dual rotors had retracted once they were clear of land, with the transport now being propelled by a pair of impulse drives. Thanks to this, the craft's passengers arrived at their destination in less than half the time it would have taken them via helicopter.

"Is this it? It doesn't look like much." Kanzashi commented as they approached the southernmost tip of the large island.

"It's not supposed to. However, you'll soon find out that there's more to this place than meets the eye. Take that ridge, for example. What do you see, Kanzashi?" Ichika asked.

"There's nothing there." Kanzashi deadpanned.

"So it appears, but in reality, both Surface Elevator 043 and Artillery Battery 071 are located there. Within twenty minutes of an invasion force being detected, we can theoretically deploy an entire semi-mechanized battalion to the surface for defensive purposes via that elevator alone. This lift also has an adjacent IS Launch Shaft, allowing us to scramble IS suits into the air within five minutes. You see, this entire island has been converted into a 550 square mile pillbox, designed to be all but impregnable to enemy assault. The waters around the island are mined, as are the beaches. The seabed itself has Gauss cannons and torpedo racks embedded into it, designed specifically to attack enemy submarines. Nearly two hundred heavy artillery emplacements dot the island, with more being built every month. Laser emplacements meanwhile provide a nearly impermeable defensive umbrella capable of taking out any missiles launched at the island, while hundreds of railgun and plasma cannon batteries provide a suitable defense against assault by IS. Sixty elevators like 043 surround the island, and in the unlikely event of an enemy breaking through, these elevators can be individually flooded with a quick hardening, body heat activated material, rendering them completely inaccessible to the enemy, and that is only part of our surface defense network." Ichika lectured to a wide eyed Kanzashi.

The transport swept over the island, circling and descending towards the outwardly antiquated airfield. As the craft descended, Ichika spotted the pencil-thin wake of a boat heading away from the island, and partially deployed his hyper-sensor to take a closer look at the vessel. From the air, it looked like an ordinary fishing vessel, but a mere fishing vessel would never have been allowed within such close distance of the island. Ori promptly answered his unspoken question as to the ship's nature.

"That looks like one of our new oceanic patrol boats. It's designed to resemble an ordinary fishing vessel, right up to the point where it sprouts weapons and displacer drives and starts hunting submarines. That one looks like Number 016." Ori explained, gesturing with a holographic limb at the ship down below.

"So it's a Q-Ship?" Tatenashi asked.

"Somewhat, but it's designed as a hunter, not a decoy. For anti-submarine duties it is armed with a single subsurface Gauss cannon designed for close to medium range engagements, as well as a pair of anti-submarine missile racks. It also carries a dual plasma cannon for last resort use against IS suits. For defensive purposes, it relies entirely on the speed provided by its twin displacement drive, as it has next to nothing in the way of armor. These patrol ships are designed as a stopgap measure until we can get our own subsurface navy up and operational." Ori answered, just as the VTOL came in for a landing, coming down on the familiar slab of concrete that doubled as an elevator down into the base proper.

"How did you get the resources for all this?" Kanzashi asked as the elevator activated, slowly sending the transport and its passengers into the bowels of the earth.

"Our base is powered by a reactor that streams in deuterium and anti-deuterium from alternate dimensions and generates immense amounts of power from the resulting reaction, and if we can bring in antimatter, we can bring in pretty much anything. If we need materials, all we have to do is siphon them in from other dimensions. It's one of the many possible applications for IS Storage Technology, and is far from the only one. I even heard they were experimenting with teleportation using the same technology." Ichika replied.

Just then, the elevator stopped, and the craft's doors opened, allowing the trio to exit the helicopter. They were met by a group of security officers led by Giorgi Stukanov, who smiled faintly when Ichika met his gaze.

"Wing Commander Orimura, you are to proceed to briefing room three. The rest of you are to follow me." Giorgi ordered simply, before turning away and walking out of the room. The two girls followed him, with the security officers bringing up the rear. Left to his own devices, Ichika made his way to his assigned briefing room, navigating the corridors with a practiced ease. Upon entering, he saw that Yukari waiting for him.

"Good, it looks like you're finally here." His former IS instructor smiled at him, a gesture that he eagerly returned.

"It's good to be back." Ichika replied, taking a seat. As soon as he did so, Yukari slammed a thick folder down in front of him.

"Enclosed within is the full list of privileges, responsibilities, and other such information regarding your now official rank. However, I am also here to brief you on the bare essentials. First off, congratulations, Orimura-kun. I know you've technically been a wing commander for a while now, but now it's official. That means an increase in pay, an increase in paperwork, and an increase in regular work."

"That I know already." Ichika laughed.

"Good. Now, as of today, you have been placed in charge of Special Training Squadron One, and are now in command of Pilots Sarashiki Tatenashi and Sarashiki Kanzashi. Your squadron is currently stationed at IS Academy, and is tasked with monitoring the IS Development situation from there, as well as protecting against possible attacks by Phantom Task and making contact with potential recruits. Any recruits that you bring in at IS Academy will be folded into your squadron until further notice. Understood?"

"That means that anyone I recruit is automatically placed under my command, correct?" Yukari nodded at that before continuing.

"Correct. Now, I understand that you currently have quite the circle of friends back at the academy. This is not an excuse to bring them all in for a bunch of wacky, anime-esque hijinks. Any student you believe to be a potential recruit is to be recommended to your handler, who will in turn evaluate them and eventually decide whether or not to bring them in. Only in events where an unavoidable large scale breach of secrecy has occurred do you have the authority to immediately decide whether or not to recruit someone. By unavoidable breach of security, I mean an event that, in order to assure your survival, you must reveal your status as a member of the Organization. An example would be a large scale Phantom Task assault on IS Academy where our support is required. A nonexample would be a simple security breach, such as one of your friends being in the wrong place at the wrong time and overhearing something she shouldn't have. Do you understand?" Yukari asked.

"I do."

"Good. Remember that you are now a true officer of our IS Corps, and thus are held to a higher standard of conduct. Abuse of authority will be punished, the full list of infractions and punishment being contained within the folder I have given you. Other punishable offences include unnecessary breaches of secrecy, unauthorized deployment of your squadron in a method that cannot be retroactively justified, and of course, desertion. In addition, there are a plethora of more minor offences that are detailed within the folder. It would be wise for you to memorize its contents as soon as possible."

"I will."

"Trust me, it will come in very handy. Next are the new privileges of your rank. As of now, you are allowed access to the Organization Officers' Club located on Level 3, Room number 3-151. In addition, your current salary has increased by ten percent, and your local computer access has been updated to Military Gamma level clearance, giving you all the necessary information for planning out combat operations. You have also been granted flexible funding control capabilities, which allow you to divert parts of your salary to funding personal R&D projects, like I did when I commissioned Tora from you, provided that the boys down in R&D are available."

"I see... What does that mean for me though? I am already pretty highly ranked in R&D, so I can already do this sort of thing." Ichika asked.

"Then that means you get to keep your salary where it is, or maybe use it to encourage the people who work with you to assist. Now, the final benefit of your new position is the ability to promote the people under your command to any rank below your own, provided that you can justify your promotion beyond mere favoritism. Promotion without merit is considered abuse of delegated authority, and will be punished accordingly."

"I would expect nothing less." At that, Yukari smiled.

"We'll make an officer out of you yet, Ichika! Remember, everything you need to know is contained within the folder I have just given you. Do you have any questions regarding what we have discussed so far?" Yukari asked.

"None so far." Ichika replied simply.

"Good. Then I can consider this short briefing concluded." Yukari's smile widened.

"I assume that my subordinates will get a similar briefing on their place in the squadron?" Ichika asked.

"They will, but that is irrelevant right now. What matters is that you're now an officer, and that means you now have access to the officers' club! Come on, let's go!" Yukari all but dragged him out of the briefing room, only to be met with an amused looking Dr. White.

"I'm sorry, but Ichika's presence is required down in the R&D bay. I'm afraid that you will have to take him to the club another time." The aged doctor said, much to Yukari's disappointment.

"What? Why?" Yukari asked.

"There are several reasons, chief of which is the presence of new equipment that I believe you will find to your liking." Raymond replied, immediately causing Ichika's eyes to light up.

"Sorry, Yukari-san, but getting new toys beats clubbing any day." Ichika apologized to his fellow pilot.

"Don't worry, I'll just have to take you there another time." Yukari sighed, before turning and walking away.

"Come on. I think you're going to like this." Raymond smiled, before leading Ichika towards the R&D bay.

"What is it?" Ichika asked as he followed his former mentor.

"Just a solution to one of the biggest problems faced by our male IS pilots." Raymond replied.

"What do you mean?" Ichika asked.

"I've finally solved the issue of the pilot suit." Raymond replied.

"Wait, what?" Ichika asked, confused.

"Do you know how many complaints I have received from our male IS pilots regarding our pilot suits? More than I can count. The Mk. I Male Pilot Suit has also garnered several rather unfortunate nicknames, a few of my favorite being 'Pinchers', 'Spandexes', and most of all, 'F(etish) Suits'. That last one seems to apply to both male and female versions as well." Raymond said as he entered the hive of activity that was the R&D bay.

"You're kidding me. I've personally had no problems with my own suit." Ichika replied.

"That's because yours was custom tailored to fit you, what with you being somewhat smaller than the average pilot. All the others... For efficiency's sake they are one-size-fits-all." Raymond explained, leading Ichika to a rack where several suits, all of them white with blue highlights, were displayed.

"These are the prototypes and the various designs that didn't make the cut for various reasons. Take this one for example." At that, Raymond gestured towards one particular suit, which was covered in a multitude of tiny, interlocking plates that made it look somewhat like a futuristic suit of scale-mail armor.

"This particular design was designed to provide the pilot with an additional layer of protection in the form of a multitude of carbon fiber plates. It was ultimately rejected for two reasons, the first being the difficulty of mass producing it, and the second being the fact that any attack capable of penetrating standard pilot armor is not likely to be stopped by a thin layer of carbon." Raymond then gestured at a second suit, this one having a spiderweb of cables coming out from its attached helmet, while the suit was covered in strange black blocks.

"This one, on the other hand, is and earlier prototype that was designed with experimental cyberspace technology in mind, in order to improve the synchronization between the suit's AI and pilot. While it was effective, it was also extremely fragile, to the point where a particularly hard maneuver could tear some cables loose and turn an interface suit into little more than an obstruction to standard empathic interfaces." Raymond explained, before walking up to a second rack beside the first. This one was obviously missing several suits. Most of the suits were the standard black and grey of the IS Corps, with one slightly smaller suit having ORIMURA written across its left shoulder, along with the WSI logo just above it. On the other suits, the WSI logo was replaced by an Organization IS Corps insignia, along with their intended user's name written underneath.

"These suits are all identical, save for their sizes. Using what we've learned from the Cyber-suit, these Interface suits, or I-suits for short, are designed with the empathic interface in mind, using empathic relays to clear up and enhance the signals that standard empathic interfaces look for. This all but eliminates the threat of critical in-flight desynchronization that sometimes occurs for pilots with lower IS Compatibility scores, as well as increasing the precision and speed of IS movement by a small but nonetheless noticeable margin. That was the original design. Now these are the Mark II I-suits, which were created after your battle with the Schwarzer Regen. While additional armor would likely have been ineffective at protecting you, some on-site medical attention would have allowed you to continue fighting even after being injured. I am sure you are aware of Stem-gel and how it has revolutionized medicine? The Mark II carries a pack of stem-gel in a cooled pocket on its back, and a network of capillaries carries it to various critical areas, using it to patch up wounds. Finally, the suit's design takes pilot comfort into account, having internal temperature regulation and can be easily adjusted to fit its intended user." Raymond said, taking Ichika's suit off the rack and presenting it to him.

"How long did it take to design these? I thought R&D was already working overtime." Ichika asked, curious.

"You forget that I am only in charge of one particular branch of R&D, and that is the IS branch. The I-suit project was simply one of many side projects involved in the MPTIS program. Our conventional R&D branch, on the other hand, is so swamped that we've had to loan some of our specialists to them in order to help them meet deadlines. After all, they've been working on projects ranging from a supersonic IS Transporter, which is almost complete, to several classes of submarines catering to a radical new combat doctrine. Hell, they're even working on an SSTO plane, though what for I don't know. All of engineering has been working overtime trying to keep up production though, and construction's proceeding at a feverish pace. At the rate we're going, we'll be able to match Phantom Task beneath the waves by the end of the year."

"You didn't answer my question though, how long did it take to design the suit?" Ichika asked again.

"The project was started about six months ago, and was folded into the MPTIS program once it began. Now, are you going to put it on or not?" Raymond asked, thrusting the pilot suit at him. In response, Ichika quickly changed into the suit. The suit ended up hanging loosely off his limbs, looking several sizes too big.

"Why does it hang so much? I thought these things were supposed to be skin tight?" Ichika asked, stepping out from behind his cover as he did so.

"That supposedly makes it easier to put on, plus it allows for the suits to be manufactured faster, without having to custom tailor them for every user. Now you have to adjust and tighten it. It should take a while as this is the first time the suit is being put on."

"How do I do that?" In response to his question, Raymond pressed a button on the suit's wrist.

"One press of the button tightens it, the second loosens it. Be sure to stand completely still until the fitting process is concluded." Raymond said, as the suit began to stretch and contract in various areas, with excess fabric being rolled away into specialized holders. Twenty seconds later, the suit was completely tightened. Then, with a faintly audible whir of machinery, the internals of the suit began to shift, aligning themselves to fit his body. Finally, after nearly a minute of standing still, a simple tone indicated that the suit had finished its work.

"How does it feel?" Raymond asked.

"Tight, but not uncomfortably so." Ichika replied.

"Good. Now for the more advanced functions. I assume the temperature regulators are functioning acceptably?"

"I think so..." Ichika said. It was true, the suit did seem slightly warmer than the cool air of the R&D lab.

"Alright. I will now be testing the empathic relays. It should feel like your entire body is tingling slightly. Any pain means that too much attention is being concentrated on one area, while numbness indicates the opposite. There shouldn't be any problems, but every suit is to be tested in such a manner." At that, a faint tingling shot through Ichika's body, causing him to twist and fidget in response.

"Will it feel like this every time I use an IS?" Ichika asked.

"Technically, you already feel something like that whenever you use an IS, but out here you don't have the benefit of neural buffering like you would in the IS. If it weren't for those buffers, every bit of damage inflicted on your IS would feel as though it was inflicted on your own body. When you pilot, the buffers will eliminate this feeling. Now, I assume everything is fine? No pain or numbness?" Raymond asked.

"No, nothing like that. Now can you please turn it off?" Ichika asked, and shortly afterward the feeling of millions of ants crawling all over his body vanished.

"Now testing the stem-gel treatment system. For testing purposes, the stem-gel pack has been replaced with simple hand sanitizer, which has a similar consistency." Raymond promptly announced, and Ichika yelped as ice-cold liquid was suddenly pumped through the conduits of the suit and released.

"Glad to see the cooling system is functioning." Raymond said as Ichika shivered in front of him.

It was about then that the two Sarashiki sisters entered the bay, led by a low ranking tech. As they approached, Dr. White turned his attention to them, temporarily forgetting about the shivering boy that stood behind him, covered in a thin film of chilled liquid.

"Oh? Are those new?" Tatenashi asked, pointing at the pilot suits.

"As a matter of fact, they are. Find yours and try them on. I'll run them through the same series of tests that Ichika here has just completed, and then they're yours." Raymond replied, gesturing at the rack of pilot suits. The two girls promptly found their own suits, Tatenashi's having a white and red color scheme, while Kanzashi's replaced the red with light blue.

"Why are these colored differently?" Kanzashi asked, gesturing at the rest of the suits, all of which were grey and black.

"Representative candidates tend to wear piloting suits colored to match their IS, and as you all are out in public it would be prudent of us to continue the trend. The differences between those suits and Ichika's are cosmetic only." Raymond said as the two went into the nearby changing booth and donned their own suits.

As the two girls had their own suits tested, Ichika was now free to look around the R&D bay. While most of the new technology was mass produced in the Engineering workshops, the prototypes were all built in R&D. One such prototype had taken up the majority of the room, and appeared to be in the final stages of assembly. It was a giant aircraft, bearing a passing resemblance to a B2 Spirit stealth bomber.

"What's that?" Ichika asked a passing engineer.

"Oh, that's the OXT-1 Prototype. It's supposed to carry IS pilots into combat." The engineer replied.

"What? Why would we need that?" Ichika was confused. An IS could transport itself, after all, and the lack of fuel requirements meant that its range was only limited by pilot endurance.

"Because it's faster! You're a pilot, right? Then you'd know that IS suits, even the new MPTIS models, have top speeds in the mid transonic range. This beauty, however, can transport a maximum of sixteen IS pilots at just past Mach 2. Once it reaches the deployment point, the pilots then jump out and deploy their IS suits in midair, using partial deployment to protect their bodies from the worst of supersonic motion until their IS suits are fully deployed."

"That sounds awfully risky..."

"Yeah, if you don't partially deploy your IS suit's shields before jumping out you're dead, atmospheric friction and all, but as long as you don't make that mistake you can easily be deployed seventy to eighty thousand feet at near mach 2, giving you a tremendous advantage over any other IS suits in the area, both in terms of altitude and speed."

"That high up?" Ichika gasped.

"Yup! I am the one who made sure the deployment process was feasible by jumping out of a supersonic transport eleven miles up wearing nothing but my IS and a pilot suit. The old model suit, not the fancy new one you're wearing." The newly declared pilot bragged.

"Wait, you're a pilot as well?" Ichika asked.

"Yup! The name's Samuel Price, IS Pilot, 1st Class, 2nd Wing, currently on loan to the R&D department as a test pilot." Samuel replied.

"The second wing... That's Fujimura-san's unit, right?"

"Yeah, and boy am I lucky for it! The commander is competent and experienced both on and out of the field, not to mention being rather easy on the eyes! All in all, it could be much worse. I could be in STS-1! I heard they've got a kid not even out of IS Academy commanding it!" Samuel laughed.

"Ahem."

"I mean seriously, who puts a teenager in charge of an IS wing? I mean, I understand if the commander is young, but a kid?"

"Ahem!"

"Yes? What is... Oh... Shit." Samuel blinked as he finally recognized the person he was talking to.

"STS-1 is not a front line combat squadron yet, but is instead a special unit designed to test our IS technology against the IS suits that the rest of the world considers cutting edge. In time, we will be relegated to the front lines, but as command is not yet desperate enough to use child soldiers, we are not serving in that regard at the moment. Do you have anything to add, Mr. Price?" Ichika asked, channeling his older sister as he did so.

"N-No..." The pilot replied.

"Very well then. As you were." Ichika said, before turning away.

"Y-Yes sir!" Samuel replied, although Ichika heard more than a little resentment in that statement. That in turn caused him to pause.

"Oh, and for the record, I don't know why they made me an officer either." Ichika said, before walking back to where Raymond was finishing his tests.

* * *

"So, you like what you see?" Tatenashi asked a few hours later aboard the transport taking them home. She was, of course, referring to the tight pilot suit that she still flaunted with an impish grin.

"It certainly suits you." Ichika replied, his own suit currently folded in his hands, while beneath his seat rested a cooling unit full of stem-gel packs.

"Was that a pun, Ichika-kun?" Tatenashi smirked.

"Unintentional, but I suppose it was." Ichika replied.

"Hmm... You really should stop talking like that. It's just the three of us in here, so you don't have to be so formal all the time!" Tatenashi commented.

"But I am an officer. I have to speak like this, or I will lose my rank." Ichika joked, causing Kanzashi to laugh.

"True, true, but on a more serious note, the new suits are bound to raise some questions." Kanzashi spoke up.

"You are correct, Kanzashi, but those questions will mostly be regarding their capabilities. Just say they're a new experimental WSI product designed to increase pilot compatibility, and that during the last tournament you managed to impress the people in WSI enough for them to approach you with an offer. That should put any questions about their origins, and just saying that they're better pilot suits won't pose a security risk." Ichika replied.

"Were you briefed on this, or did you just make that up?" Tatenashi asked.

"Quick thinking is one of the most important requirements for rank." Ichika replied in a rather pompous tone that set the two girls laughing.

Tatenashi was the first out of the helicopter when it landed, running down the ramp only to stop at the WSI tower's roof entrance. Ichika followed at a more sedate pace, with Kanzashi right behind him.

"Say, Ichika..." Kanzashi began, causing him to pause.

"What is it?" Ichika asked.

"It's... I never really apologized for how I acted after my recruitment, and-" Ichika cut her off mid-sentence.

"Don't worry about it. I've already spoken with Yamada-san about how she was... Over-zealous in regards to security. Had our positions been reversed, I would have acted similarly."

"But still-"

"Don't worry about it. It all worked out in the end, didn't it?" Ichika smiled, only to feel a tap on the back.

"Ichika, you really are an idiot sometimes. Just accept the apology." Tatenashi chided him, causing him to sigh.

"Alright, apology accepted, Kanzashi." That caused the younger Sarashiki to brighten up.

"Now that that's over with, let's get going. I'm sure they're expecting us back at the academy!" Tatenashi smiled brightly, and lead the way back down the WSI tower, the group stopping briefly to pick up Kanzashi's newly refitted IS.

* * *

As Ichika and the Sarashiki sisters made their way back to IS Academy, the SS Aurora was making its own journey across the Pacific ocean, its cargo holds brimming with over two hundred thousand tons of material. Ranging from IS components made in Japan bound for American companies to several containers full of teddy bears from China, the bulk carrier was barely making twenty knots.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Joey Alvarez said from where he leaned against the ship's railing.

"You've been saying that for the entire trip. What gives?" Daniel Larssen asked as he leaned down beside him.

"It's nothing really, it just feels like something is off about this whole thing. I mean, look at us! Who hires a PMC to guard some random container vessel?" Joey asked, speaking more to himself than to his friend.

"It's probably just a particularly corporate boy with too much money to spend, not that I'm complaining! I mean, easy money, right? All we have to do is sit around for a few more weeks and then it's payday!"

"Do you really think so? Something just feels off about this whole situation."

"It's probably nothing. I mean, it's just a random cargo ship! What could possibly go wrong?" As if in answer to Daniel's rhetorical question, the ship suddenly shuddered, and both men felt the ship start to slow down.

"You just had to say it, didn't you?" Joey complained, grabbing his rifle and, keeping it pointed down, he began to look around.

"It's probably just an engine malfunction. They'll get it fixed in no time and we'll get going again." Daniel replied, still smiling.

"That wasn't an engine malfunction. We wouldn't have slowed down that fast if it was." Joey replied, a hint of fear in his voice.

"You're worrying too much." Daniel smiled, but he unslung his rifle all the same. Then, the sea exploded right in front of them as a bright silver object, glinting in the sunlight, flew out of the water and landed with a loud 'THUNK!' on the deck.

"What the hell is that?" Daniel cried out as the process repeated itself several times, with a final total of six pods landing all around the deck. Slowly, cautiously, PMC members approached the pods, while the rest of the ship's crew backed away. A loud hiss suddenly rang out across the deck as the doors of the pod slowly slid open...

"What the hell-" That was all Joey got to say before the door suddenly exploded outward and with an inhuman shriek, something came rocketing out of the pod. Joey didn't even have time to scream before the... _Thing_ was upon him, its long, bladed claws emerging out the unfortunate man's back. Panicked screams indicated similar occurrences all across the ship, the sound of pure, unadulterated panic being interspersed with the staccato of gunfire.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Daniel cursed as he depressed the trigger, blazing away from the hip in his panic, causing several bloody holes to open up in his dead friend's body as Daniel fired through him. At least one bullet met its mark, crimson blood pouring from the creature's wound and causing it to turn its attention to him. Its eyes met Daniel's, and even in his panicked state he saw the calculating intelligence hidden behind them. Then, the monster hurled his friend's corpse at him, the impact knocking him to the ground. The last thing Daniel saw was the monster's bladed hand coming down at his face.

Raising its head in triumph, the monster let out a loud shriek that echoed across the deck, cutting through the sounds of panic and pain. It was answered eighteen times over as more monsters emerged from the pods. The hunt had begun.

* * *

"What in god's name are those things..." Captain Gabriel Preston breathed as he watched the inhuman abominations systematically dismember his crew. Near the prow of the vessel, one of the abominations was already feasting, bent low over the bodies of two of the hired guards. All armed resistance had long since ceased, the creatures targeting the PMCs first before rounding up and slaughtering the remaining crew on deck like cattle.

"The door is locked, for all the good that will do." David Goldman, the head of the PMC said, keeping his gun focused at the door.

"Let's hope it holds. I've sent out a distress signal and the SOS beacon is already transmitting... I just hope whoever comes is well armed." Gabriel replied.

"Do you really think we'll make it through this?" His First Officer asked.

"If the door can hold, then I believe so. Besides, we've still got some weaponry in here." Gabriel replied, casting another look out across the deck. The monsters had apparently eaten their fill by now, leaving behind a bloody deck covered in mangled, half-eaten corpses. The captain's eyes came to rest on one particular monster that was sniffing the air.

"Fat lot of good those did us." The PMC captain replied as the monster let out another one of those terrifying shrieks that chilled the bridge's occupants to the bone. Then, as one, the monsters rushed towards the stern of the ship. Some of them stayed low, heading towards doorways, while others began to climb. One of the creature's heads soon rose into view, separated from the bridge proper only by a thin layer of plexiglass. For a moment, Gabriel stared straight into its eyes, seeing an inhuman intelligence behind the abominable exterior, before the creature bared its teeth in a sickening imitation of a smile as it raised one of its claws and slammed it into the glass. Immediately, small cracks began to spiderweb across the window as the creature struck again and again.

"It's going to break through." The First Officer said, with no small amount of fear in his voice.

"We won't give it a chance. Goldman, your pistol, if you please? I would rather die standing, with a weapon in my hand, than cowering against a bulkhead." Gabriel said, and David Goldman handed over the weapon, Gabriel taking it with a thankful smile. Beside him, the First Officer was praying.

"We'll fire through the window. It's going to break through anyway, so the glass doesn't matter." Gabriel ordered as he took aim, David doing the same beside him. Pressing their weapons against the glass, aiming straight for the creature's eyes, they pulled the triggers. Their weapons barked, and the creature screamed, shards of glass digging into its thick, bullet resistant skin, while the bullets themselves entered its eyes and pierced its brain, sending its dead body tumbling to the deck below.

"One down, seventeen more to go." Gabriel said with false bravado. Those would be the last words he would ever say as another creature swung in from above the windowsill, landing with a sickening crunch on David's chest, its toe claws ending the man's life while its left arm stabbed through Gabriel's chest. The last thing the Captain saw was the creature decapitating his First Officer with an almost contemptuous flick of its wrist.

Another creature entered the room, sniffing around before walking up to the door. Swiftly unlocking the door, the creature led its brethren deeper into the cargo vessel, pausing only briefly to walk over to the bridge computer and deactivate the SOS beacon. Soon, the screams began anew, and once again they slowly petered out, replaced by inhuman shrieks as the monsters of Dr. Aaron Meusel worked themselves into a feeding frenzy. Only when the final screams stopped did the true mastermind behind the attack reveal itself. Detaching itself from its position underneath the freighter, the Phantom Task submarine surfaced beside it, a large loading bay opening on its back, while several IS suits carrying small cranes took up positions over the deck.

"You know the drill! Take what's useful and leave the rest!" One of the boarders ordered, and the men got to work, trying their best to ignore the blood-soaked abominations coming out from below deck. One creature in particular suddenly began to shriek, causing the workers to pause in their labor. The creature in question bounded towards one man in particular, who, rather than scream, simply patted it on the head, causing it to make an odd purring noise.

"Do you really have to lavish such affection on your... pets?" Orimura Reikou asked, failing to keep the disgust out of her voice as she watched Dr. Meusel play with the creature.

"Number 109 is not just some mere pet!" Aaron replied, pouting as he picked up a severed limb from the deck and tossed it, only for Number 109 to leap into the air and catch it in its mouth. Even Reikou shuddered slightly as the monster tore into the morsel. After watching for a few moments, she turned to her subordinates and addressed them.

"Get those IS components loaded as fast as possible! This ship has managed to get off a distress signal before we took it, which means enemies can appear at any given moment!" Reikou ordered.

"Who's a good little monster? You are, oh yes you are!" Aaron chortled behind her, while the monster in question purred its assent.

About twenty minutes passed before an overseer approached Reikou.

"Pardon me Ma'am, but the Leviathan's cargo hold is already full. All IS components have been loaded, and we've filled in the remaining space with other useful materials." The man reported.

"Very well then. We're leaving. Get everyone off this ship. We must be leaving as soon as possible." Reikou ordered before turning to leave, Dr. Meusel shepherding his abominations behind him as he did the same, while the overseer relayed the news to his subordinates. Within ten minutes, the ship's deck was deserted, and the Leviathan began to dive beneath the waves, the huge, Manta ray shaped submarine submerging completely in under a minute. Several minutes passed, before a pair of torpedoes struck the SS Aurora, two consecutive detonations causing the cargo ship to start sinking, slowly at first, then rapidly as flooding took over. The ship's bow was raised high into the air by the time a pair of Organization fighters flew over the scene, arriving just in time to see the massive vessel slowly buckle and break in half as its stern sank beneath the waves, taking the mangled bodies of David Goldberg, Gabriel Preston, Joey Alvarez, Daniel Larssen, and nearly forty others to a watery grave.

* * *

"So what is it you want to talk to me about?" Maya asked, her usual smile on her face as she leaned back into her chair.

"During the briefing yesterday I was told that one of my duties was to recommend possible new recruits to you, so that you may make the final decision as to whether or not to recruit them. I have one such recommendation to make right now." Ichika replied from where he stood.

"And that is?" Maya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Charlotte Dunois." Ichika answered simply.

"Elaborate. Why should I consider her? What makes her worth including into our Organization?" Ichika considered for a moment, before replying.

"Of all the representative candidates I have become acquainted with, she is in the best position to be recruited. While she does have some ties with the Dunois corporation, we are working on severing them. Aside from her father's company, she does not have ties to any other organization that I am aware of, making her best suited for immediate recruitment. Aside from the short period of media attention that will come from our media campaign against her father, she will not have the eye of the public on her either." Ichika said.

"I see. Is there a reason you have not recommended any of your other friends then? Why not Cecilia Alcott, or Shinonono Houki?"

"Simple. Cecilia Alcott is considered a minor celebrity in England, which makes her rather unsuited for covert movement due to all the potential attention she would draw. Houki, on the other hand, is Dr. Tabane's younger sister, and is one of the few people that the doctor truly cares about. I am enough of a security risk in that regard, and as of this moment I do not believe that she will be able to keep the secret if pressured by her older sibling. Laura Bodewig is currently not an option, as she is a member of the German military, and her loyalty lies firmly with it. Due to her status as a representative candidate, Rin is also a member of the Chinese military, making her unsuitable for recruitment as well. Of all the names I have just listed, I believe that Cecilia is the closest to being suitable recruiting material, but at the moment only Charlotte is ready to join us. Speaking of which, how has the article gone over? I heard that Charlotte had given the final go-ahead for it to be released." Ichika asked.

"The article was published earlier today, and initial response seems favorable. Apparently, her father has already seen it, and has already responded. A formal revocation of Miss Dunois' representative status is being composed and sent as we speak. It has likely already reached its intended recipient. Fortunately, I have anticipated this, and a response is already complete. After all, while the Dunois corporation no longer desires Charlotte as their representative, Aero Infini Industries has observed her during her duel with Laura Bodewig and was suitably impressed. The fact that AII's CEO is a member of our Organization is of course, entirely coincidental." Maya explained in response.

"So when should I deliver the news?" Ichika asked. In response, Maya pulled out a thick envelope.

"As soon as possible would be nice. I will take you recommendation into consideration and begin evaluating Charlotte as a potential recruit. Is there anything else?" Maya asked as Ichika took the envelope.

"No, there is not."

"Then you are dismissed." Maya replied, allowing Ichika to leave the room. As soon as the door slid shut, he was already hurrying to his next destination, nearly running into Cecilia as he entered the dormitory complex.

"Ichika-san? What's going on? What's the hurry?" The blonde asked, causing him to pause.

"It's Charlotte. I have an urgent message to deliver to her. Do you know where I can find her?" Ichika replied.

"Hmm. I think she's in her dormitory right now, but I'm not sure..." Cecilia replied.

"Thanks. Now, I have to go. It's critical that she sees this sooner rather than later." Ichika replied, waving the thick envelope in front of the blonde before bolting off, racing up two floors to where Charlotte's room was located, finally skidding to a stop in front of the French girl's room.

"Charlotte, it's me, Ichika. Can I come in?" Ichika asked, knocking on the door. When no response came, he tried the doorknob. It didn't budge.

"Ori, can you get this door open?" In response, the door clicked, and the handle now turned easily in his grip. Entering, he looked around the room and saw Charlotte lying on her bed, Laura sitting beside her. The silver haired girl was obviously trying to comfort her roommate, displaying a tender side that Ichika would have never guessed she possessed. In spite of her efforts, however, Charlotte continued to sob, a discarded tablet beside her displaying her father's latest message.

"Ichika?" Laura asked, looking up from her distraught friend.

"I assume her father's behind this?" Ichika asked in response, already knowing the answer. Laura nodded in response.

"He's revoked her representative candidacy. Her flight leaves tomorrow morning." Laura murmured sadly.

"Damn. I was hoping to deliver this before that happened." Ichika replied, passing the envelope over to Laura, who looked at it curiously.

"What is this?" Laura asked.

"An offer of representative candidacy from Aero Infiniti Industries." Ichika replied simply, causing Laura's eyes to widen.

"Charlotte? Charlotte, did you hear that?" Laura asked excitedly, shaking the blonde haired girl.

"L-Laura?" Charlotte asked.

"Did you hear that? You're a representative candidate again! That means you don't have to leave!" The sadness on Charlotte's face was replaced by confusion.

"She isn't a representative candidate yet. Charlotte, you are to read through the contents of that envelope and follow any instructions provided. However, this means that she won't have to leave the academy, as simply receiving an offer like this gives one the status of pending representative candidate. So long as the paperwork within is filled out and submitted in a timely manner, Raphael Dunois has absolutely no authority over her." Ichika explained triumphantly as Laura all but tore open the envelope, withdrawing a thin packet of paperwork, along with a corporate brochure and a thick handbook that presumably contained the details of AII's offer.

"Is... Is this real?" Charlotte asked, hesitantly taking the handbook.

"Of course! My only regret is that I didn't deliver early enough for this debacle to be avoided." Ichika smiled, before he continued, covering Charlotte's hand with his own as he spoke.

"I told you that I would take care of everything, didn't I?"

Hesitantly, as if turning a page too hard would cause the entire book to fall apart, Charlotte read through the first few pages, her eyes widening as she took in the book's contents. Then, without any preamble, she sat up and kissed him, both Ichika's and Laura's eyes widening, albeit for different reasons, although Laura was smart enough not to interfere.

When they had last kissed in the bathroom, it had been tender, a way to seal a promise between them. Now, however, Charlotte's kiss was rough and passionate, the French girl all but forcing her tongue into Ichika's mouth as all the emotions of the past few minutes made themselves known. If it wasn't for Laura clearing her throat a few minutes later, the kiss might have degenerated into something else, but as it was, the noise reminded the pair that they were not alone in the room. Springing apart, the pair blushed as Laura stared them down, an expression of mild disapproval on her face.

"Hmph. I will allow this to go unpunished just this once. However..." With those words, Laura leaned in and kissed a still dazed Ichika. Then, blushing faintly, the silver haired girl continued.

"While I have allowed you, Charlotte, to kiss my wife, please remember that Ichika here is MY bride, and thus any further interaction of that sort will require my permission." With those words, the atmosphere of the room broke, and Ichika could have sworn he heard a record scratching to a halt somewhere in the distance.

Nobody spoke for a few moments as the awkwardness of the moment filtered out of the room. Then, Ichika broke the silence.

"You know Charlotte, you really should get to filling that out. Until it's done and submitted, your status as a pending representative candidate can technically be revoked at any time. We should save the celebrations until your status as a representative is assured." He spoke, gesturing towards the paperwork packet.

"Ichika's right. You really should get on with it. I wouldn't want you to have to leave because you didn't fill out paperwork in time." Laura chipped in, handing her roommate a pen. Murmuring her thanks, Charlotte took the instrument and began to fill out the forms.

"Say, Ichika, how did you manage this?" Charlotte asked, briefly looking up from where she was signing her name.

"What, the representative candidacy?" Ichika asked.

"Yes. I can understand having contacts in the media, but having someone high enough in AII to guarantee my selection as a representative candidate? How did you manage that?" Charlotte asked as she filled out another field.

"Honestly, all it took on my part was mentioning the possibility that you may become available as a representative candidate in the near future to a high ranking member of AII's R&D team. Apparently, when the person in question is an A-grade pilot capable of fighting on par with a cutting-edge third-generation TIS in a second-generation MPIS conversion using only conventional weaponry, the word travels fast. It didn't even take an hour before I was contacted by one of AII's recruiters who was interested in taking the opportunity. After swearing him to secrecy, I explained your situation, and he quickly agreed to the plan."

"I never took you for a negotiator." Laura commented.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Charlotte smiled, before continuing. The forms were filled out minutes later, and Charlotte handed them back to Ichika.

"Alright, that's the last of them. I assume you know of a way to rapidly get these to whomever needs to see them?" Charlotte asked.

"I suppose you can say that... I'll get right on it." Ichika replied, thinking of Maya, before standing up and heading for the door.

"Ichika..." Charlotte's voice stopped him before he left.

"Hmm? What is it?" Ichika asked.

"I... Thank you, Ichika. Thank you for everything." Charlotte said, and Ichika returned the thanks with a smile.

"Anything to help a friend, Charlotte!" He replied, before leaving the room. Inside, Charlotte sighed and fell back onto the bed, her head landing beside Laura's thigh.

"Hey Laura..." Charlotte began.

"What is it?" Laura asked.

"I think I'm in love." Charlotte confessed, causing Laura to blink.

"Y-You don't mean-" The silver haired girl stammered out.

"I think I do." Charlotte replied simply.

"I... I'm going to have to consult with some professionals!" Laura said, panicking, before making a tactical retreat to the restroom. Soon, one side of a phone conversation was heard from the tiny room as Laura consulted her supposed professionals. Charlotte had to suppress a laugh. Whomever this Clarissa was, she evidently had quite a sense of humor.

* * *

 **A/N: Whew, that last scene was rather difficult to write! This lack of action is really starting to slow the writing process down. As canonically, there won't be any real action until the Gospel incident, which is still a month away, I've decided to start adding in more scenes that don't involve Ichika, at least until we get past the obligatory beach episode, with the SS Aurora scene being only the first of several. I mean seriously, when you're desperate enough for filler that you write a 5k word scene about a new pilot suit (Shortened in the released version), you know that you really need to start adding in some action. This was further underscored by the fact that the entire scene with the Aurora only took about two hours to write, review, and edit, while the scene with Charlotte immediately afterward took nearly three days!**

 **Anyway, now that I've finished ranting about things that likely won't even remain in your minds for more than ten seconds if you even bothered to read them, on to more Author's Notes!**

 **I've recently watched the World Purge Infinite Stratos movie, and while a good bit of it was just fanservice (Admittedly, watching Ichika constantly cockblock himself was extremely funny), the end essentially contained a holy grail when it came to the issue of Tabane. I won't spoil it in case you haven't watched it, but the whole thing fit in beautifully with my tentative plot, albeit with a few key differences, which I will not elaborate on for fear of spoiling the story. (Of course, this may still be subject to change, as for a few days I was considering creating an Everyone Dies ending (Coincidentally, I had just finished watching End of Evangelion... Good movie that!).**

 **Now, before I accidentally end up spoiling something other than my tentative thought processes, I do hope you all enjoy the story so far. Any grievances are to be stated directly to me, and I will try my best to address them. Until next time!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: As usual, please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies. Pretty much all of the beach scene, right down to the dialogue, is copy-pasted from the anime, as I really didn't feel like having Dr. Meusel's monsters crash the party and start a bloodbath (The idea did cross my mind, however, but ultimately was refused). However, since simply writing down 'They had fun at the beach, the end' would feel like a cop-out, I did my best to get the scene over with as unobtrusively as possible. I have taken a few creative liberties with the scene though, as in canon it is implied that only Class 1-1 went on the trip. However, the amount of students present in the scene seemed an awfully large amount for a single class, so I decided to make it so that all of the first year students at the Academy went.**

* * *

An entire week had passed since Charlotte had been made a representative of Aero Infini Industries. The plane taking her back to France had come and gone, and her father had yet to make a move against her. Now, an entire week after he had saved Charlotte from her father, Ichika found himself sitting next to the girl in question on the monorail heading out of IS Academy.

"Say Ichika, why are you so tired today?" Charlotte asked, breaking the silence between them.

"Laura tried to consummate her marriage again. I managed to keep her out of the room this time around, but the door needs replacing again." Ichika sighed.

"That's the fifth door this week..." Charlotte said.

"She sure is persistent, I'll give her that. Thankfully the doorframe was not too badly damaged this time around, so it should be fixed by the time we get back. I don't know where she got the breaching charges though..." Ichika trailed off, wondering just how exactly the silver haired girl had managed to smuggle explosives into what was supposedly one of the most secure educational institutes in the world.

"So that's what the chemistry set was for!" Charlotte exclaimed, answering his question, before continuing on.

"You know, Ichika, you can always stay with me again if your room is unusable."

"I wouldn't want to impose though..." Ichika said, remembering the time he had slept in Charlotte's room while his room was undergoing repairs.

"I-I wouldn't mind..." Charlotte murmured, too softly for Ichika to hear.

"What was that?" Ichika asked.

"I-I was just wondering why you haven't brought it up with the instructors yet!" Charlotte exclaimed. Before Ichika could answer, however, the train ground to a halt, and the students began to disembark. Ichika followed Charlotte out, the blonde girl pausing when she saw him behind her.

"So why did you come here?" Charlotte asked.

"Well, you know how we have the beach trip coming up? I realized that I don't have a swimsuit that fits me, and since you told me that you don't have one either, I thought that I would join you on your shopping trip." Ichika explained.

"I see..." Charlotte said in response, before sticking out her hand.

"Here. Since we're going together and all, you should take my hand." Charlotte explained simply, and Ichika complied, taking the girl's hand in his own, before allowing her to lead him into a nearby shopping mall.

As the pair of them proceeded into the large building, however, a pair of figures emerged from their hiding place behind them.

"Hey..." Rin initiated the conversation.

"What is it?" Cecilia replied.

"They're holding hands, aren't they." Rin deadpanned in response.

"They do seem awfully close." Cecilia replied.

"I see... I'm neither hallucinating nor imagining it... It is indeed real." Rin replied, a manic grin slowly forming on her face as she raised her hand, preparing to deploy her IS.

"LET'S KILL THEM!" Rin exclaimed, the ShenLong's purple arm taking form around her own.

"Oh? You two look like you're enjoying yourselves." A third voice cut into the conversation, causing Rin and Cecilia to turn around. There stood Laura Bodewig, the silver haired girl's face impassive as usual.

"Laura-san!" Cecilia exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?" Rin chimed in.

"Don't be so wary around me. I have no intention of harming you at the moment." Laura replied.

"Do you honestly expect us to believe that?" Cecilia asked. Laura simply nodded in response before starting to walk in the direction of the shopping mall, only for Rin to stop her.

"And just where do you think you're going?" The Chinese girl asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I am going to join them." Laura replied simply, before continuing towards the mall. Rin's shocked exclamation went unnoticed.

* * *

"Ichika!" The familiar voice made both Charlotte and Ichika pause and turn toward its source.

"Laura? What are you doing here?" Ichika asked.

"I was alerted to the fact that you were going on a shopping trip for swimming apparel. As I am currently lacking in that department, I require both yours and Charlotte's assistance in choosing out a perfect model." Laura said.

"So... You want to go shopping with us?" Charlotte asked.

"I do."

"I see no problem with that. Do you?" Ichika asked, turning to Charlotte, who nodded her assent after a few moments. Their pair thus made into a trio, the group proceeded deeper into the mall.

A few minutes passed before Ichika noticed something amiss.

"We're being followed. You two go on ahead." Ichika said simply, causing Charlotte to gasp slightly, and Laura to nod. At that, Ichika broke away from the pair, ducking into a nearby jewelry store. Deciding to loiter for a few moments, he began to inspect the items on display. One particular item caught his eye, and after a few moments' consideration, he bought it. Taking the item from the cashier, he pocketed it before quickly spinning around. His pursuers couldn't respond fast enough, and sure enough, he caught a pair of familiar girls ducking behind a pillar. Smiling, he walked up to the pillar in question, his ears picking up a hushed argument going on behind it.

"So what are you two doing here on this fine morning?" Ichika asked as he looked down at the pair that now tried and failed at acting casual when confronted.

"N-Nothing! Nothing at all, Ichika-san! What are you doing out here?" Cecilia answered.

"Just helping a pair of friends with their shopping. I assume you're here for the same reason?" Ichika asked.

"Y-Yes! Yes, of course! That's all we're here for! It's not like we're spying on you or anything!" Rin stammered out, smiling.

"Glad to hear it. After all, if you two did in fact spend the past few minutes spying on me, I would think that both of you are more than a little creepy. Glad to see that's not the case!" Ichika said, laughing inwardly at the two girls' expressions as he turned away. Just then, another familiar pair walked by.

"Careful with those Nii! You're gonna get it from me if you drop them!" Gotanda Ran threatened her overloaded older brother, who at the moment was loaded down with three separate bags.

"Isn't this a little too much?" Her older brother groaned.

"Of course not! This is only the beginning! Don't you know that the summer of your third year of junior high is a special one? I need a swimsuit for the pool, a swimsuit for the beach, a sexy swimsuit, a super sexy swimsuit, and a super ultra sexy swimsuit! I have to get every kind! And that's just the swimsuits! I need clothes for all occasions!" Ran exclaimed.

"That sure is a lot of clothing! Are you sure you'll need that much?" Ichika asked, walking up to the pair.

"What?" Ran asked, turning around and preparing for another rant before noticing just who had approached her.

"I-Ichika!" The redhead exclaimed, her eyes widening to inhuman proportions.

"Hey Ichika! You out shopping as well?" Dan asked, walking up behind his sister.

"I guess you could say that... Say, is that all swim wear?" Ichika asked, his eyes coming to rest on the mountain of bags that his friend was carrying.

"Yeah. This little girl here wanted said she wanted to show you, so she got all fired up and-" Whatever Dan was about to say was cut off as his sister sent him flying back with a well placed kick, swim apparel flying everywhere as he fell.

"So, what did-" Ichika began, but was cut off.

"Nothing you need to know about! So, Ichika, are you buying a swimsuit as well?" Ran asked, smiling.

"Yeah. Everyone in my grade is spending a few days at the beach. Supposedly we'll be conducting IS exercises outside the IS Academy, but honestly I think it's because the instructors just want to relax." Ichika said.

"Really? Damn, if I had known I would've asked you to help me choose." Ran muttered, more to herself than to Ichika.

"Ichika, who is this?" Cecilia's voice cut into the conversation, causing both Ichika and Ran to turn towards her.

"Ah, Cecilia, this is my friend, Ran. Ran, this is my friend and classmate, Cecilia Alcott." Ichika introduced the girls before quickly looking around for Rin. He quickly spotted her a few feet away, standing over Dan.

"Really? I guess that means I will be her junior as well." Ran said, still smiling.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot! You're starting IS Academy next year!" Ichika exclaimed, remembering what Ran had told him a few weeks before when he had eaten at the Gotandas' restaurant.

"Really now?" Cecilia asked, curious.

"That I am! I'm studying really hard for the entrance exam too!" Ran beamed.

"Don't worry Ran, the written portion of the exam is actually fairly easy. Most of it is pretty logical, at least. It's the practical portion you have to really prepare for. Have you been training in an IS?" Ichika asked, and Ran's face fell.

"Not really. I don't have many chances to use a training IS." Ran said.

"Don't worry. Very few pilots get much practical training before the exam. I'm sure Cecilia can give you plenty of advice though! After all, she is an elite pilot." Ichika said, and Cecilia took that as her cue to lead the red haired girl aside, leaving Ichika alone for now. Rin and Dan were still chatting a few feet away, the latter still on the ground, meaning that he was free to find Charlotte and Laura again.

Quickly making his way to where the two girls were likely located, Ichika failed to notice his final pursuer. Being much more stealthy than Cecilia and Rin, Orimura Madoka followed her quarry, her face emotionless as she listened to his interactions with his friends.

* * *

Ichika found Laura and Charlotte in a nearby swimsuit store, the two girls locked into a debate over one particular two piece.

"So have you picked one out yet?" He asked as he walked up behind them, causing both girls to jump in surprise.

"N-No, not really. I've found a few designs that I like, but so far none of them seem to meet Laura's requirements." Charlotte explained.

"What about this one?" Ichika asked, picking up one at random. It turned out to be a small, frilly black piece that wouldn't look out of place in a lingerie store, its intended recipient blushing furiously when she caught sight of it.

"Ichika, I don't think-" Charlotte began, but Laura grabbed it out of his hands before the blonde could continue.

"I-I'll take it!" Laura declared, and immediately ran off to the changing booth, Charlotte following her with her own choice clasped in her hand. Once the two girls had both vanished behind the curtain, Ichika took the opportunity to look around for a swimsuit of his own.

A quick scan of the store later, and Ichika had realized that the store catered almost exclusively to the fairer sex, with the only selection of male swim apparel being located in a corner deep in the store. Quickly looking through the meager selection, he quickly picked out a simple blue-black pair of swim trunks and, tucking them under his arm, he walked over to the changing booth and leaned against the adjacent wall. A few seconds later, he saw his older sister enter the store, Maya following right behind her.

"Orimura? What are you up to?" Chifuyu asked as she caught sight of him.

"Just waiting for the changing room to open up so I can try this on." Ichika replied, smiling back at his sister, a gesture that she faintly returned.

"I see. That better be all." As Chifuyu said that, both Laura and Charlotte emerged from the changing booth, quickly catching sight of where Ichika was standing.

"I-Ichika, does this look weird?" Charlotte mumbled, while Laura quickly hid behind her. The former was clad in an orange and black two piece, while Laura was clearly wearing the black bikini that Ichika had picked out for her. Blushing, Ichika quickly stammered out a response.

"N-No! It looks nice! Really nice!" Behind the trio, both Maya and Chifuyu raised an eyebrow. As Ichika tried to coax out Laura from where she stood behind Charlotte, his older sister methodically scanned the shelves for something she liked, picking a particular piece out before heading into the changing room. She emerged less than a minute later, clad in a rather risque black two-piece, complete with a black garter on her left leg.

"Orimura! Since you seem to be an expert at judging these sorts of things, I would like your opinion on this." Chifuyu ordered, drawing the attention of all three students in the store.

"I-Instructor!" Laura spoke, no, gasped, first, while Charlotte simply gaped at the image before her.

"It... It certainly suits you..." Ichika stammered out, blushing as his sister walked up to him.

"Is that all you can say?" Chifuyu teased, stopping when her breasts were right at Ichika's eye level.

"I... I..." Ichika stuttered.

"Could it be that the one Ichika truly loves is his sister?" Maya's seemingly innocent voice caused Ichika's already scarlet face to grow even redder.

"It certainly looks like it! One glance and he turns into a stuttering mess!" Chifuyu replied. That was the straw that broke the camel's back, and Ichika promptly fainted, a faint trickle of blood leaking from his nose. Shaking her head, Chifuyu turned back to the two girls that remained standing.

"You two need to step up your game." She said simply, before heading back into the changing booth, emerging fully clothed a few moments later. Directing a final wink at the two dumbstruck girls, she walked up to the cashier and made her purchase.

* * *

Nearly half an hour later, Ichika found himself alone and walking back out of the jewelry store he had visited earlier, having made two new purchases. Once he had regained consciousness, he had been confronted by a pair of angry girls, who quickly ushered him out of the store, all but explicitly telling him that if he returned, he would regret it.

Putting away his most recent purchases, he took a moment to stop and think about where to go next, only to be shaken out of his thoughts by a hand tapping him on his shoulder. Turning around, his eyes landed on what at first seemed like a younger version of his older sister.

"Who are you?" Ichika asked, causing the girl to smile slightly.

"That is currently irrelevant. You, on the other hand, are Orimura Ichika, and you are interesting." The black haired girl answered, causing Ichika's eyes to narrow slightly.

"Should I be flattered or concerned?" He asked cautiously, his hand coming down to rest on the pouch that concealed his firearm, cursing his stupidity in leaving his IS back at the academy.

"That is for you to decide." The black haired girl replied, smirking all the while.

"If you are trying to get a point across, you're doing rather poorly." Ichika commented.

"There is no point. This interaction is simply me indulging in idle curiosity." The girl responded.

"Is that so? What are you curious about then? Is it my anomalous status as an IS pilot?" Ichika asked.

"Not at all..." The girl trailed off.

"Then what is it?" Ichika asked. The girl was quiet for a few moments before she spoke again.

"Hypothetically, if you spent your whole life being conditioned to kill someone, only for that conditioning to fail, what would you do?" The girl asked.

"I wouldn't know. I lack experience in those matters." Ichika replied.

"I see. Do you know what I would do, then?" The girl asked.

"What would you do?"

"I would seek out those responsible, and end them."

"I see... That certainly is the first response I would think of." Ichika said, waiting for the girl to make a move, his fingers hovering over the hidden clamps that would allow him to draw his weapon.

"Should I be concerned?" He asked.

"Maybe." The girl replied simply, before turning around and starting to walk away.

"Wait." Ichika said firmly, causing the girl to pause.

"What is it?" The girl asked.

"You never told me who you were." Ichika said.

"That shouldn't be too hard for you to figure out... Brother." The girl replied simply, before walking away once more, quickly disappearing into the crowd, leaving a confused and wary Ichika behind. Taking a deep breath, he decided that he should return to the academy, preferably before another crazy yet familiar girl appeared out of nowhere.

* * *

While Ichika was evaluating swimsuits and meeting with strangers, a very different scene was playing out in the northern Pacific ocean. This was the area that Organization Patrol Vessel 011 was ordered to patrol. It had been a calm maiden voyage for the hundred meter long vessel, filled with relentless drills for its crew as it cruised through the cold ocean waters. While it looked to be nothing more than a large fishing boat, that description couldn't have been further off the mark. Instead of hooks and lines, the large outrigger poles trailed sensor equipment, forming a powerful electrolocation system, which, similarly to how sharks sought out their prey, could theoretically allow the patrol vessel to detect its target. In addition, microphones, sonar arrays, and a powerful hyper-sensor suite formed the vessel's eyes and ears, all aiding in its simple goal: Find them, Chase 'em, Sink 'em.

Once the creed of American submariners during the Second World War, it now accurately described the patrol vessel's mission. To locate the enemy, engage the enemy, and finally, destroy the enemy. To that effect, OPV-011 carried no less than twenty ASM-35 tubes, and a total of one hundred Anti-submarine missiles. Each torpedo was a compact weapon, each propelled by a single displacer drive and bearing a powerful plasma warhead with a yield equivalent to four thousand pounds of TNT. Those torpedoes were the main armament of the patrol ship, capable of homing in on a target nearly thirty kilometers away. Should the torpedo's guidance systems determine that the weapon would miss, the warhead would detonate at the closest point to the target, acting as a powerful depth charge. A single direct hit from one of these weapons would doom or cripple any seafaring vessel.

These torpedoes were fired from twenty tubes, which were arranged in two identical racks. However, instead of being simply dropped into the ocean, the torpedoes were fired in a manner similar to a missile, propelled by rockets into the air before coming down on its target. Once the missiles hit the water, the rockets would be jettisoned, and the torpedo's displacer drive would activate, sending it streaking towards its target.

In addition to these powerful ship killers, the OPV-011 carried a powerful underwater Gauss cannon, which fired powerful 90 millimeter shells at underwater targets. Where the torpedoes were the ship's long range armaments, this gun, with an effective range of two kilometers, was its close range weapon. While magnetic acceleration weaponry was long since known to function underwater, it had never been used in combat, and thus had remained entirely experimental.

For defensive purposes, the OPV-011 carried a single fast firing dual plasma cannon for anti-air usage, as well as another twenty torpedo tubes, these ones much smaller, designed to be rapidly reloaded with their small payload. While the two ASM-35 racks fired powerful anti-ship weapons into the air, these small ATT-110 arrays fired small, quick anti-torpedo torpedoes, each carrying a small plasma warhead along with a sophisticated guidance system and engine.

These were the armaments of every Organization Oceanic Patrol Vessel, a class of warship that OPV-011, nicknamed the Sea Kitten by its crew, belonged to. It was this ship that cruised northeast at forty knots, patrolling a trade route upon which IS components produced in Korea and Japan were transported to the United States, while medical and industrial equipment steamed in the opposite direction. It was the perfect route for Phantom Task raiders to prey on, and thus it was the perfect route for hunting them down.

However, Phantom Task was nothing if not elusive, with its submarines capable of rendering themselves completely invisible to both acoustic and sonar based detection. Only hyper-sensors were known to be able to detect them, although the Electrolocator was, theoretically at least, capable of the same deed. Elusive and with unknown armaments, Phantom Task submarines were far from helpless foes.

"Sir, the electrolocator is picking something up." First Officer Alisa Serenova spoke up from where she stood, manning the sensor console.

"Size?" Captain Issei Hyuga asked.

"Between three and four hundred meters long, at least two hundred meters wide. It's too big to be a whale, and it isn't the right shape to be an American or Chinese submarine." Alisa replied.

"Is it in hyper-sensor range?" Issei asked, causing Alisa to frown.

"No, sir. We can still get a general lock via the electrolocator though." At that, Issei smiled.

"Looks like we have our target then. Out of curiosity, have any of our sister ships reported a kill yet?"

"Not as far as I know, sir."

"That means we'll be the first then. Send off a quick message to command. Tell them that we have found the enemy and are now engaging." The captain ordered, his finger hovering over a small red button on a control panel beside him.

"Aye aye, sir." Alisa replied simply, and Issei pressed the button. Immediately alarms began blaring all across the ship, ordering its crew of nearly one hundred men and women to action stations. Torpedo and anti-Torpedo racks emerged from their hidden alcoves, while the large, dual barreled plasma gun was quickly deployed and pointed skyward. Beneath the surface, two quiet displacer drives replaced the twin screws as the vessel's method of propulsion, and the hidden barrel of the Gauss cannon pointed itself downwards. Within sixty seconds, the supposed fishing vessel now looked the part of a heavily armed submarine hunter.

"Are weapons locked?" Issei asked, and Alisa nodded.

"Good. Pressley, fire when ready. Two torpedoes should be enough to gauge our foe's capabilities."

"Aye aye, sir." Gordon Pressley, the vessel's gunnery officer, replied, and moments later two missiles screamed into the air, arcing away towards their distant target.

* * *

The bridge of the Raider class submarine was divided into two distinct sections, with the floor being occupied by a wide variety of officers, each one in charge of their own aspect of running the ship. Overlooking them all was the balcony, upon which Captain Hans Euler stood, gazing out across the assortment of men below him. Some of them he had known from his previous command, a Hunter-Killer class submarine, but the vast majority were unknown to him. Beside him stood his First Officer, Sergei Pavlov, who had served beside him ever since they had both finished training together. The two men were of a similar height and age, but that was where the similarities ended. Sergei was blonde haired, with blue eyes and a pale complexion, while his somewhat effeminate features had earned him the nickname 'Bishie' during training, a name that he loathed. Hans, on the other hand, was brown haired and broad shouldered, with grizzled features and a scar that ended just barely below his eye, the injury being a memento from training.

"Anything new?" Hans asked his friend, knowing full well that there was nothing to report.

"Nothing of the sort. That fishing ship is maintaining its course, nothing unusual there, and no other ships have been detected." Sergei replied.

"I see..." Hans replied.

"Is something the matter, sir?" Sergei asked.

"Nothing that you don't already know."

"Ah. Are you still having... Less than acceptable thoughts?"

"Please, like you haven't had them too. You can say what you want about the old Mako, at least that ship wasn't flying the modern equivalent of a Jolly Roger."

"We don't have a flag, sir. It's a submarine." The two laughed softly at that.

"Are you ever going to let that go?" Hans asked.

"Nope!" Sergei replied. The two men were quiet for a few moments, remembering their escapades in training, before Hans broke the silence again.

"It still doesn't seem right to me though. We're just sitting here, underwater, raiding and torpedoing helpless freighters. I thought we were better than common pirates, but here we are, raiding and pillaging. All we're missing now is the rum."

"You didn't hesitate to torpedo that unarmed whaler a few weeks back." Sergei commented.

"That wasn't piracy, that was doing the world a service. I always liked whales, you know? Those magnificent creatures deserved better than to be slaughtered by petty criminals and sold in pieces."

"If I recall correctly, our superiors didn't exactly approve of your action."

"I was warned to 'Not waste munitions on common scum not worth our time and attention', with extreme prejudice, I must add. You should know though, you were there, after all."

"Just trying to cheer you up, sir."

"And for that, I thank you." The two men were silent for a while.

"Say, Sergei, have you ever wondered what kind of life you would have led had you not been born into Phantom Task?" Hans suddenly asked.

"Honestly, I never have. Never saw the point in thinking about things that would never come to pass." Sergei replied.

"Really? Not even once?"

"Not at all. What about you? What would you have been?"

"Hmm... Honestly, I would have wanted to be a marine biologist."

"Is that why you ordered us to perform detailed analysis of a pod of whales the other day?"

"No, that was because I thought it was an-" Whatever Hans was about to say was cut off by one of the techs down below.

"Acoustic sensors are picking something up. Sounds like a missile launch!" The man shouted out.

"What? Where?" Hans demanded, activating the holoprojector at the front of the balcony. Immediately, a large blue sphere shimmered into being, with a large white representation of the submarine at its center. Near the top of the sphere, a single red oval indicated the presence of a hostile vessel.

"It came from that fishing vessel, sir." The tech replied.

"Are you sure?" Hans asked.

"Yes si- Shit, we've got torpedoes in the water right above us! Estimated time to impact: 47 seconds." The tech exclaimed.

"Damn. Sound general quarters and prepare the Gauss CIWS. Open fire as soon as the torpedoes are in range, then bring us around. Do we have a lock on the enemy vessel?" Hans rapidly shouted out orders as crimson lights flashed across the submarine, calling the crew to battle stations.

"Yes sir!" The gunnery officer replied to his last request.

"Good. Fire rear torpedo tubes. Two sonar guided and two acoustic." The officer simply nodded in response, and the submarine shuddered almost imperceptibly as the weapons left their tubes. Moments later, the submarine shook again as the Gauss CIWS opened fire, sending a volley of metal slugs at the incoming torpedoes. At least one must have hit, because the submarine shook again, this time much more noticeably, as the weapon's unstable plasma warhead detonated.

As he prepared to give his next orders, Hans couldn't help but feel proud as the officers below him went about their business. If the submarine shaking unnerved them, they didn't show it. Even as the submarine began to turn, their only response to the sudden tilt was to briefly check if their seat restraints were secure before immersing themselves in their work once again.

* * *

"They've definitely noticed us now." Alisa commented as the signature on her screen began to come around.

"That they have. One of the torpedoes has detonated prematurely, while the second one has been knocked off course. I'm guessing some sort of point defense weapon." Pressley added.

"Torpedo launch detected. Two of them are emitting active sonar signatures, while the other two are silent." Alisa spoke up again.

"Fire off another volley of ASM-35s, four should do the trick, then launch anti-torpedoes once enemy warheads are in range." Issei ordered, and the two officers on the bridge nodded their assent, four more missiles streaking into the air from their launchers while spare torpedoes were brought up from the magazines below. A few moments later, the anti-torpedo tubes hissed, releasing a volley of miniature torpedoes into the water. Beneath the waves, torpedo and anti-torpedo dueled in a slow motion facsimile of missile and anti-missile, the ocean surging as the explosions reached the surface.

"All enemy torpedoes eliminated." Alisa reported.

"Second volley of torpedoes has come down." Pressley reported a second later. Several long moments of inactivity passed as both embattled ships considered their next action, before Pressley once again broke the silence.

"All four torpedoes confirmed destroyed. None of them got close enough to do any real damage."

"I see. What's the status of the Gauss cannon?" Issei asked.

"Ready to fire on your orders, sir." Pressley replied.

"Good. Your job now is to continue firing off torpedoes one at a time. When one is destroyed, launch another. Do this until we close to cannon range, at which point we will open fire with that instead. Intercept any enemy torpedoes as soon as they are in range. Alisa, keep me updated on the status of the enemy submarine." Issei ordered. A few seconds later, the OPV-011 began to accelerate towards its target, its displacer drives working at maximum capacity.

* * *

"They've intercepted our torpedo salvo." Sergei stated from where he managed the submarine's helm.

"So they have countermeasures as well... What is the status of our spinal cannon?" Hans asked.

"Loaded and charged." Sergei replied simply as a second chain of premature detonations reverberated through the submarine's hull.

"Excellent. Once we've finished turning, bring us up thirty degrees and center on target. Once you have a lock, fire at will." Hans ordered, feeling the submarine starting to right itself beneath his feet, indicating that it was finishing its turn.

"Yes sir." Sergei replied, just as one of the officers below reported another torpedo hitting the water.

"In the meantime, fire another torpedo spread, this one from our forward tubes. Four acoustic, four sonar." Hans ordered, and it was done.

"Enemy ship is accelerating." Another officer reported from below.

"Make it fifty degrees, Sergei." Hans ordered in response after a quick glance at the sensor sphere.

* * *

"Additional torpedoes launched. Six of them this time around." Alisa replied.

"You know what to do." Issei ordered, and in response another volley of anti-torpedoes splashed into the water, while yet another missile roared out of its launch tube, likely to meet the same fate as its predecessor, serving to possibly distract its target.

"Enemy has finished its turn... It's tilting towards the surface!" Alisa reported, never once taking her eyes off the sensor console.

"Do we have a hyper-sensor lock yet?" Issei asked.

"Torpedo is in the water." Pressley reported.

"They have just entered sensor range... Wait, what the hell?" Alisa exclaimed.

"What's going on?" Issei asked.

"The electrolocator is going crazy, something's interfering with it! We've lost the lock!" Alisa reported.

"Can we still get a lock with the hyper-sensor?"

"Yes."

"Do you know what could have caused this?" Issei demanded.

"Well, if another strong electric field is present in the immediate area it will interfere with the locator." Alisa replied.

"So an electric field... What could have... Oh, shit!" Issei exclaimed, his hands suddenly dancing over the helm as he threw the ship into the start of a series of evasive maneuvers.

"Torpedo has detonated. That was a close one. Minor damage is a possibility." Pressley cut in. Less than a second later, the ocean right beside the ship exploded, and a large shell, still traveling at supersonic speeds despite having been fired from underwater, screamed past the ship, the hundred meter long vessel barely managing to stay upright from the resulting shockwave. The holoscreen in front of Issei lit up as engineers and automated systems sent in their damage reports. Issei breathed a sigh of relief as the reports stopped coming in. The ship had sprung several small, easily sealed leaks, and the entire outrigger sensor system was destroyed, but no major damage had been inflicted on anything keeping the ship afloat.

"Electrolocator is offline, but we're close enough that we can spot them with the hyper-sensor." Alisa reported.

"Good. Pressley, triple torpedo fire rate. I want as many shockwaves in the water as possible. Alisa, can the electrolocator still detect electric fields?" Issei asked.

"No sir, the receivers were just as badly damaged as the emitters." Alisa answered.

"Damn. We'll have to take that thing out before it fires again. A direct hit from that would rip the ship in half." Issei said grimly, the sound of another missile rocketing out of its tube punctuating his words, before he turned to Pressley and continued.

"Pressley, how much longer until we can bring our own Gauss cannon to bear?"

"We can pull off an extreme range shot from where we are right now, but chances of hitting are low." The officer in question replied.

"How much longer until we can hit reliably then?"

"If we make a beeline towards the enemy at flank speed I can land a shell on them in twenty seconds, but given how we're moving right now I cannot give a good estimate."

"I see." At that, Issei turned the ship towards the submarine and held the course, the ship rapidly building up speed as it sped towards the enemy that had dared wound it.

For twenty nerve wracking seconds OPV-011 held its course. Nobody aboard the bridge spoke, with the only sound audible in the small room was that of missiles being periodically launched from their tubes at increasingly steep angles. All three of the bridge officers knew that any one of those twenty seconds could be their last, that a single shell from the submarine below would likely snap their ship in half and detonate the vessel's magazines upon a direct hit. It was a shell that never came, and twenty seconds later, Pressley picked up a microphone and, with a triumphant grin on his face, spoke one fateful word.

"Fire." At that word, the ship rocked sightly as a shell was fired into the depths at hypersonic speeds. A moment later, Pressley spoke another word, the grin never leaving his face.

"Hit."

* * *

The entire submarine shook when the shell hit, the heavy projectile punching through the outer shell of the vessel, boring through two decks before detonating halfway through the third, sending a lethal shockwave through the entire ship as fragments and superheated water followed the blast through into the fourth and final deck of the submarine. Nobody drowned as water gushed into the gaping wound, because everyone in the affected area was already dead, either from the impact, the shrapnel, or the searing heat of the plasma detonation. Watertight doors, or at least, the doors that still functioned, quickly sealed shut, containing the flood of water, but the damage was done.

"Damage report!" Hans demanded as the submarine began to tilt.

"Starboard CIWS array has been destroyed, all electrical cables leading to beta generator have been cut. Starboard displacer drive is operating at 36% capacity..." The officer rattled off a grim list of damages, from leaks to broken structural pieces, only to be interrupted by another officer, who had a note of panic in his voice.

"Torpedo closing! Our CIWS has missed its first volley!" A few seconds passed, before the officer spoke again.

"Second volley missed!" A few more seconds passed, and then the submarine shook, hard, as the incoming warhead detonated nearby, the weakened CIWS array finally meeting its mark.

"Third volley successfu-" The officer's relieved sigh was interrupted by the sound of creaking metal as the straining starboard wing was pushed to the breaking point. Nobody on the bridge spoke as an entire third of the starboard wing slowly but surely broke away. Metal warped and broke, plastic cracked and split, and electrical cables strained before snapping apart

"Sergei! Can you get us out of here?" Hans asked.

"Assuming we take no more damage, I believe I can do it." Sergei replied. Approximately five seconds later, a second shell struck the port-side wing near its root, shearing off the port-side forward torpedo tubes and narrowly missing the magazine. Water flooded into the damaged wing, and the submarine slowly but surely began to grind to a halt.

"Can we still make it?" Hans asked, fearing the answer.

"I'm afraid not, sir." Sergei replied as the submarine began to list hard to port.

"Very well then." Sergei picked up a microphone and spoke.

"Attention all hands: Abandon ship. Repeat. All hands, abandon ship." With a heavy heart, Sergei watched as the men below released their restraints and stood. Many men headed to the door, but some stayed. These were the officers from Hans' old command, the ones who had been with him since he had first captained a submarine. Where the rest of the bridge officers filed out of the bridge in an orderly fashion, these men simply saluted before resuming their posts on a bridge now only lit by computer monitors, the lights having gone out to save power.

"What is the status of the escape vessels?" Hans asked, referring to the three small craft that served as escape pods in the event of the submarine's destruction. Each carried sixty days' worth of food for thirty people, and was designed to simply ascend to the surface and stay there, while the men within waited for someone, preferably someone friendly, to find them. After sixty days, however, Sergei knew that the onboard explosive charges would detonate, killing everyone onboard. He also knew that the charges could be set off earlier via a signal transmitted from headquarters.

"Starboard vessel is gone, sir, but the other two are ready for launch." One of the officers reported.

"Good. Send out a signal to the enemy vessel. Tell them that we surrender." That caused a few gasps, but nobody objected.

"Sir, all communications gear is gone." The officer in charge of communications reported simply.

"Then try sending morse code via the sonar." That worked, as the sonar began pinging away. When the message was sent, Hans then turned to Sergei.

"What's the status of the escape vessels?" He asked.

"Center vessel has separated successfully, but there is a torpedo in the water and-" Whatever Sergei was about to say was cut off as a shockwave shook the crippled submarine.

"Status of center vessel?" Hans asked. Sergei hesitated before he finally sighed.

"It's gone."

"How many were onboard?"

"Escape vessel was over capacity."

"And the port-side vessel?" Hans asked.

"Port-side vessel was not launched. It is still intact." Sergei replied.

"Very well then. Gentlemen, you may all proceed to the port-side escape vessel." Hans ordered, and the remaining officers all stood. As one, they saluted their captain once more, a gesture that Hans returned. Then, they calmly filed out of the bridge, leaving only Hans and Sergei behind.

"That means you too, Sergei." Hans said.

"I only leave if you do." Sergei replied.

"But I have to wipe the vessel's computers to ensure that-" Sergei cut his captain off.

"Then do so." At that, Hans inserted a bright red flash drive into his console, typed in an authorization code, and hit a button to confirm the action.

"There, it's done. Now let's get going." Sergei urged, causing Hans to sigh.

"A captain goes down with his ship, Sergei. We both know that." The captain replied. A few moments passed before Sergei replied.

"Please understand, Hans, that I hold you in the highest respect."

"And I you, Sergei." Hans replied, right before his old friend walked up to him and delivered a powerful right cross to his captain's face, knocking his superior officer out cold. Then, the blonde man picked up his unconscious captain and, slinging him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, made his way out the door.

The corridors were dark, lit only by phosphorescent light, but Sergei navigated them easily. Soon he reached his destination. The port-side escape vessel was still there, the remainder of the PTS _Carcharodon_ 's crew already onboard. As soon as he boarded, the doors slid shut, sealing the craft against the water it would travel through. The escape pod shook slightly as the bay door was blown open, causing the pod bay to flood. Then the pod began to float, slowly at first but quickly gathering speed as it headed up towards the surface. A few tense minutes passed before the pod breached the surface, knocking everyone onboard to the floor.

A panel on the ceiling of the pod hissed before sliding open, allowing fresh air into the pod, a short ladder allowing access to the roof of the escape vessel, but that was not important for the moment. Looking around, Sergei found another hatch in the floor of the pod, which led to a small cargo bay filled with supplies. Right where it was most easily accessible, right beside the first-aid kit, lay a bright orange flaregun.

Picking it up, Sergei grimaced. Now came the hard part.

The flaregun was only meant to be fired to allow allied vessels to more easily find the escape vessel, and thus would set the onboard charges to detonate within ten minutes of firing. Any allied vessel would then be able to transmit the codes required to defuse the onboard bomb and thus save the crew. However, Sergei did not intend to attract the attention of an ally, so alternative methods were required.

A simple 9-volt battery and a bit of wiring here, a large plastic tube there, and he had an improvised firing mechanism ready to go. Climbing up on top of the vessel, Sergei looked around until he spotted the enemy ship in the distance, before placing the tube down. Next he used the wire and battery to create a short circuit, causing the wire to start heating up. Finally, he placed down the flare and waited. Eventually, enough heat had been transferred to ignite the propellant within the flare, sending it flying into the air.

Evidently, the ship noticed the signal, as it gradually began to turn towards him. Slowly but surely, the vessel that had sunk his submarine came closer and closer.

* * *

"Attention everyone! Right now, it's 11AM! You have free time until the afternoon! Be sure to return to the hotel in time for dinner! Understood?" Maya called out, repeating what all the students at the beach already knew.

"Yes sensei!" Ichika replied cheerfully, checking once to make sure that his IS was firmly attached to his wrist. As the other students ran for the beach, Ichika followed at a more sedate pace. After all, this part of the vacation was entirely for relaxation, and he intended to reap the benefits.

"Hey Orimu~! Let's play!" A familiar voice called out. Turning, Ichika saw Honne and several of her friends standing around, one of them clutching a volleyball.

"Yeah! Let's play beach volleyball!" The volleyball holding girl added.

"Sounds good? Where are we-" Ichika was cut off by another familiar girl leaping onto him from behind, climbing up onto his back.

"It's so high up! I can see so far from here!" Rin exclaimed from her new perch atop his shoulders.

"Rin, what are you doing?" Ichika demanded as the girls around him began clamoring for the next ride.

"What are you doing?" Another voice cut through Ichika's protests.

"Can't you see? We're playing watchtower!" Rin replied to Cecilia's query.

"Ahem! Ichika-san, did you forget the promise you made to me on the bus?" Cecilia asked, planting an umbrella into the ground as she did so, before laying down in the shade on a newly unfolded mat. Undoing the top of her bikini, Cecilia looked back at Ichika.

"Now Ichika-san, if you would please-" Cecilia's request was cut off by Rin leaping down from her perch.

"Just what are you making Ichika do?" The Chinese girl demanded.

"Nothing much, I'm just having him apply sun oil on me. It's not very gentlemanly to break a promise with a lady." Cecilia said.

Casting his thoughts back to the bus ride, Ichika remembered making no such promise. However, he also knew that the alternative would not be very pleasant, so he simply nodded and, steeling himself, walked over and applied the oil to his hands.

"Kya!" Cecilia cried out as soon as his hands touched her bare back.

"Ichika-san, warm it with your hands first before rubbing it on." The blonde said. Sighing, Ichika did as was requested and started again, listening to Cecilia's occasional sighs and slight moans of pleasure.

"She looks like she's having a good time!" One of the watching girls exclaimed.

"Can I go next?" Another said in turn.

"Just to be clear, I only have to do your back, right?" Ichika asked as he finished, Cecilia already panting heavily.

"No, since this is a good opportunity, I'd like you to do all the parts I can't reach myself." Cecilia sighed.

"Which ones?" Ichika asked.

"Well, my legs, and also my... my derriere." Cecilia sighed, blushing slightly. Before Ichika could reply, however, Rin jumped in, sun oil already covering her hands.

"Don't worry! I'll do all those parts for you!" The Chinese girl exclaimed and, before Cecilia could formulate a response, went straight to work, causing the blonde to squirm as Rin's cold hands worked their way all over her body.

"Rin-san! That's enough!" Cecilia exclaimed after several long moments, spinning around and sitting up, causing her top to fall off as she did so. Everyone gasped as Cecilia looked down and blinked twice. Recognizing the signs, Ichika did the smart thing and leaped back, enhancing his strength with a partial deployment of his IS. A bright blue mechanized fist punched through empty air, its target already sailing away.

A brief deployment of his shield cushioned his fall, before he stowed his IS away again, while Cecilia was comically covering herself up with her deployed arm. Sighing, Ichika turned away, only for Rin to race past him, heading for the water.

"Ichika! Let's see who can swim to that buoy over there first! If you lose, you'll have to treat me to some shaved ice!" Rin exclaimed as she splashed into the water ahead of him.

"No fair! You have a head start!" Ichika shouted out in return, running out into the waves in hot pursuit. Of course, Rin may have had a head start, but Ichika was a strong swimmer himself, and he slowly but surely began gaining on her. A wide grin was on his face as he swam, not really caring who won or lost, only caring that he was swimming.

The tranquility was abruptly cut short when he saw Rin's head break the water ahead, a look of panic on her face. Redoubling his efforts to reach her, he quickly caught up and pulled her to the surface, before quickly making his way back to the shore, where several girls, Cecilia included, waited for him.

"Rin! Are you alright?" Ichika asked as he set her down on the sand, the other girls crowding around him.

"I-I'm fine!" Rin replied, coughing out some seawater as she did so.

"How unfortunate for you, Rin-san!" Cecilia exclaimed, causing the brown haired girl to turn a questioning look in her direction.

"Huh?"

"Don't worry, I'll take you back to the hotel." Cecilia explained, a concerned expression masking the crafty spark in her eyes.

"What? But I'm going to be with Ichika-" Rin began, but Cecilia paid her no heed.

"Takatsuki-san, would you kindly help me?" Cecilia asked, turning to one of the girls behind her.

"Of course I'll help!" Shizune Takatsuki replied, and together the two girls dragged a screaming Rin behind them to the hotel.

"Oh, Ichika! There you are!" Charlotte's voice promptly drew his attention. The French girl was standing in front of him, while Laura nervously clung to her, the German girl clearly unused to the situation.

"Laura? Is something wrong?" Ichika asked, walking over to the pair.

"She just isn't used to the beach." Charlotte explained, to which Laura nodded her head emphatically.

"I see..." Ichika murmured. It was a sad sight for sure, a girl his age clinging to another as a security blanket, but, Ichika mused, it was obvious that something like that would have happened. After all, Laura never truly had a chance to develop socially like other children her age.

"Hey, Laura!" Ichika said softly, tugging on the girl's shoulder. The girl did not respond.

"Laura, it's me, Ichika!" Still getting no response, Ichika decided to try a different approach.

"Laura Bodewig!" He shouted, trying, and apparently succeeding, at sounding like an officer. Laura's response was immediate, the silver haired girl snapping to attention.

"There. See? It's only Ichika! There's nothing wrong!" Charlotte said as the girl took stock of her situation.

"Sorry about that, Laura." Ichika said as Laura looked down at herself. Perceptive as ever, Charlotte was quick to reassure the German girl.

"Don't worry Laura, I'm sure you look just fine." Laura simply looked at her, a skeptical look on her face.

"There's nothing wrong at all, Laura. In fact, you actually look pretty cute right now!" Ichika added, causing the girl's face to suddenly turn a furious red.

"R-Really?" Laura spoke for the first time.

"Of course!"

"I'm... I'm c-cu-cute... Nobody ever said that to me before..." Laura murmured.

"Orimura-kun~! You promised to play with us, remember?" The voice cut through the moment. Quickly explaining things to Charlotte, Ichika divided up the teams and helped set up the net. Soon enough, a furious game of volleyball was being played, the first round ending when the ball hit Laura on the forehead, causing the silver haired girl to tumble to the ground.

"Laura! Are you alright?" Ichika asked, running over to the fallen girl.

"Is something wrong?" Charlotte asked, doing the same.

"I'm cute... He thinks I'm cute!" Laura continued to mutter.

"You're still blushing over it?" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Larua?" Ichika asked, waving a hand in front of her face. At that, the silver haired sole visilbe eye widened, and its owner blushed furiously. Screaming, Laura ran off the volleyball court, hiding herself in the water.

"Should we go after her?" Ichika asked, concerned.

"No, I think we should just give her some time." Charlotte replied, just as Maya walked up to the group.

"Ooh, Beach Volleyball? It sure looks fun!" Maya exclaimed, playing the part of the innocent teacher once again.

"Will you join us, Sensei?" Ichika asked.

"Of course! How about you, Orimura-sensei?" Maya turned to the other older woman present, who immediately drew gasps from everyone who hadn't already seen her in her swimsuit.

"Orimura-sensei! You look like a model!" One of the girls on the other side of the court exclaimed.

"So cool!" Another added.

"Sensei! Please! I'll switch with you!" The third chipped in, causing Ichika's older sister to smile.

"Well then, shall we?" Chifuyu asked.

"Let's do it!" Maya exclaimed, and cheerfully made her way over to Ichika's side of the court.

"Ichika-san, could it be that Orimura-sensei is closer to your type of woman?" Charlotte asked suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Ichika asked, tearing his eyes away from the figure of his sister.

"Well, you have a different reaction to her compared to us when you see us in our swimsuits." Charlotte commented.

"That's not true!" Ichika exclaimed, blushng slightly.

"Hmph. There really are a lot of rivals, and to make matters worse, one of them is Orimura-sensei!" Charlotte muttered, causing Ichika to raise an eyebrow, but otherwise remain silent.

"Serve incoming!" With those words, the match began anew, Chifuyu going easy on her opponents at first, but gradually upping the ante. The outcome of the match was set in stone long before the match was over, and by the time the game finally ended thanks to Rin and Cecilia running headfirst into Chifuyu, Ichika's side had lost horribly.

Eventually, Ichika found himself floating on an inner tube some distance from the ocean, finally relaxing like he had intended to at the start of the day.

It was as he was relaxing that he noticed something odd. Partially deploying his IS suit's hyper-sensor, Ichika scanned over the beach, thus confirming his suspicion. Of all his friends at the Academy, one was missing from the beach. While Charlotte, Laura, Rin and Cecilia were all on the beach. Even Kanzashi had eventually come out to nervously join the fun, but someone else was missing.

Looking over the beach again, Ichika was unable to spot Houki. His eyes narrowing, Ichika widened his search, eventually spotting the girl in question sitting on a cliff overlooking the beach, the dark haired girl watching the sun slowly start to set.

Returning to shore, Ichika began to make his way up the cliff, navigating a somewhat lengthy path until he finally emerged behind his childhood friend, who was clad in a fairly simple white two-piece.

"Is something the matter, Houki?" Ichika asked, causing the girl's head to spin around, startled.

"I-Ichika? W-What are you doing here?" Houki stammered out.

"You looked lonely, so I decided to keep you company." Ichika replied simply, taking a seat beside her.

"So, is something wrong?" Ichika asked again once he sat down.

"Why do you ask?" Houki asked in turn.

"You aren't down on the beach with everyone else."

"Do I need a reason?"

"No, but you most likely do have one." Houki did not reply for a while, so Ichika decided to change the subject.

"You know, it's your birthday tomorrow." Ichika said, causing Houki to look at him.

"You remembered?" She asked.

"Of course I did." Ichika replied, causing Houki to smile for a few moments, but it soon faded away.

"You're not the only one who remembers." Houki said, and Ichika immediately knew exactly what she was worried about.

"Is this about her?" He asked, knowing better than to mention Houki's sister around her. In response, Houki simply nodded.

"I see. She will likely come here tomorrow."

"I already know that."

"She will come with a present of some sort." To that, Houki replied with a single word.

"Akatsubaki."

"Akatsubaki?" Ichika asked.

"Akatsubaki." Houki confirmed.

"Sounds like an IS."

"It is an IS. According to her, it is beyond the latest specs and is supposedly on par with your Infinite Arsenal." Houki replied sadly.

"Why so sad? Didn't you want your own IS?" Ichika asked.

"I wanted to earn my personal IS, Ichika, not have my sister build me a top-of-the-line machine on a whim."

"I see."

"All I wanted to do in IS Academy was become so skilled that I would be chosen as a representative candidate, and now I just get every girl's dream dropped down in front of me! Everyone in the Academy with a personal IS suit earned it through merit. Everyone, it seems, but me."

"You're forgetting me. I only got my IS because I accidentally activated an IS on the engineering room floor." Ichika said, trying to cheer his friend up.

"An IS that you built yourself, to your own specifications, and later mastered! I-" Ichika cut Houki off mid-sentence.

"Houki, if you are concerned about your skills, don't be. You are easily among the best pilots in the Academy. Akatsubaki will merely let you fight on equal footing with representative candidates."

"But that would mean that I am reliant on my machine for victory! I want to win through skills, not by virtue of a superior IS!"

"Houki, a machine will only take you so far. No matter how powerful the IS, it is little more than a flying lump of metal without a skilled pilot, and you are definitely skilled."

"But-"

"Don't worry, Houki. Whatever happens tomorrow, I'll be there with you. No matter what your sister may have planned." Ichika comforted his friend, who slid closer to him. His response was to wrap his arm around her, an embrace that he hesitantly returned.

For a long moment, the two of them simply sat there, staring out at nothing across the ocean, before finally, Ichika broke the embrace and stood. Looking at Houki, who had also stood, he spoke.

"We should go down to the beach soon, or else people will start wondering where we are." Houki simply nodded in response, and together they made their way back to the beach, where the rest of the students were still enjoying themselves. A short distance away, Ichika noticed his older sister scrutinizing them. As he met her gaze, he saw her nod slightly, before turning back to her conversation with Maya.

As the sun slowly set, painting the ocean orange with its fading light, the students began to head back to the hotel, the activities of the day finally starting to show. Where they had all ran out to the beach bursting with energy, they were now exhausted, but it was a good form of exhaustion, born of fun instead of toil. All in all, Ichika thought as he headed into the hotel building, surrounded by his friends, it had been a very good day.

* * *

 **A/N: Finally, this chapter is done, and with it, the obligatory beach episode is concluded! It took three chapters and a ton of timeskips and filler, but it is now over! Hooray! I hope you all enjoyed the battle that I wrote up to give this chapter something other than swimsuit shopping and beach scenes. It was heavily influenced by the excellent World War 2 documentary 'Victory at Sea', specifically Episode 21 'Full Fathom Five' which I believe is a fitting tribute to the many American submariners of the war.**

 **Next item of business is the timeline. Apparently, Houki's birthday is not ambiguous, and is in fact a clearly defined date (July 7). Given my stretching of the timeline, that is no longer possible, as several months have passed in the Agent Orimura-verse, while the entire first season of Infinite Stratos took place over two months at the most. This means that Houki was born on a different date in this fic. This is ultimately inconsequential to the plot, but it is still worth mentioning.**

 **Next chapter will introduce the 'Fourth Generation' (3.5 Gen IMO) Akatsubaki, with a few personal modifications to make it more Fourth-genny, as IMO it was rather disappointing in terms of performance, although that could be because it was running at factory default settings during the Gospel fight. However, since the third generation of IS suits was just coming out when it was released, I personally place it as a late third gen, with fourth gen being a simple buzzword. In addition, the next chapter will likely begin the Gospel arc, which I am really looking forward to. Until it is released, however, I can simply hope that you enjoy the story so far!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Honestly, if I were to make an OC that was stronger in battle than all his peers and dual wielded katanas that also shot lasers, people would be all over me screaming Mary Sue as soon as I put my fingers to the keyboard. However, since Akatsubaki is, unfortunately, canon, I will have to make do by putting my own personal spin on the design (Making it stronger, of course, because nerfing Akatsubaki would make it weaker than it already is.)**

 **Chapter 13**

* * *

The rest of the day passed by in a blur to Ichika, his thoughts focused more on what would happen tomorrow than what was going on around him. He dimly remembered Charlotte burning her taste-buds with Wasabi, and he quite clearly recalled causing a significant amount of commotion by offering to feed Cecilia. He remembered giving Chifuyu a massage after dinner, a moment that was interrupted by the rest of the girls tumbling through the door, but even that was not enough to truly demand his attention.

That night, he slept peacefully, having decided that getting as much sleep as possible would help him the next day. When he woke up the next morning, he felt quite refreshed as a result. He yawned as he walked out of his room, stretching himself awake while his hands clutched the present he had bought for Houki in the jewelry store a week before.

The girl in question was already awake, and was sitting in the courtyard, her eyes fixed on a pair of familiar pink and white mechanical rabbit ears sticking out of the ground.

'Please pull me out!' Was written on a sign right behind them.

"Are you going to do it, or should I?" Ichika asked.

"Feel free. Just wait until I'm gone." Houki replied dismissively, and Ichika barely had a chance to hand her the present before she started to walk away.

"Happy birthday, Houki-chan." Ichika congratulated as he handed the small package to the suddenly blushing girl.

"I-Ichika?" Houki stammered out.

"Open it when you have a chance. For now, let's get this over with." Ichika replied, gesturing towards the ears that were still planted firmly in the ground. Houki nodded in response, and promptly left the scene, heading back to her room.

"Ichika-san, what are you doing?" Cecilia's voice rang out as he turned to face the ears.

"Something that I will probably regret." Ichika replied as he knelt down and pulled the ears out of the ground. Nothing happened at first, but a familiar roaring noise soon signaled the arrival of the infamous doctor.

"Get clear!" Ichika shouted, leaping back from the sign, a gesture that Cecilia followed, right before a large metal carrot slammed into the ground, embedding itself deep into the courtyard soil. Prerecorded laughter played as the carrot split open, its occupant jumping out.

"Aww, you cheated Ikkun!" Dr. Tabane exclaimed as she emerged from her drop pod, striking a pose as she did so.

"Long time no see, Tabane-san." Ichika sighed as he rose to his feet.

"Yup, yup! A long time! A really, really long time! By the way, where's Houki-chan, Ikkun?" Tabane asked.

"Well, she-" Ichika began, but Tabane was no longer listening as she quickly drew out what looked like another pair of rabbit ears.

"No matter! I'll just find her with my Houki-chan detector! See ya!" Tabane said, before running off in a completely random direction.

"Ichika-san... Who was that just now?" Cecilia asked as she too clambered to her feet.

"Houki's older sister. You might know her as Dr. Shinonono Tabane." Ichika replied simply, causing Cecilia to gasp.

"She sure is... Different..." Cecilia murmured once she had regained use of her mental faculties.

"That is one way to describe it." Ichika replied, before he turned and headed back to his room.

* * *

Less than half an hour had passed before all of Class 1-1's Personal IS owners were ordered to don their pilot suits and report to the cliffs by the beach, where they found Chifuyu and Houki already there, waiting for them.

"Alright, now that everyone with a personal IS is here-" Chifuyu began, but Rin interrupted her.

"Wait a minute! Houki doesn't have a personal IS, right?" The Chinese girl asked, blunt as ever.

"Well I-" Houki began, but Chifuyu chose to reply in her stead.

"Don't worry. I will explain. Due to some previously unforseen-" A high pitched squeal cut off Chifuyu mid-sentence as Tabane slid down the cliffside before rocketing into the air.

"Chii-Chaaaann!" The doctor screamed as she shot down at her oldest friend, only for the woman in question to smoothly catch her and keep her at a distance.

"Come on Chi-chan! I just wanted to see you! Let me show you my love!" Tabane babbled as she tried in vain to get to Chifuyu.

"Shut up Tabane!" Chifuyu ordered, to no effect.

"Seems you're the same relentless iron claw you used to be!" Tabane exclaimed as the assembled students looked on, with varying reactions. Then, Tabane suddenly disengaged from Chifuyu and ran up to her sister, who was trying to hide behind a rock.

"Hi there!" Tabane exclaimed.

"Hello..." Houki sighed in response.

"Long time no see! How many years has it been again? You've sure grown a lot, Houki-chan, your breasts in particular!" Tabane continued to speak, only for Houki to draw a previously hidden Shinai and smack her sister across the face.

"I'm going to hit you!" Houki warned after the fact.

"You already did! That's not nice, Houki-chan! Ikkun, tell her she's not nice!" Tabane complained.

"Hey, Tabane. At least introduce yourself before you start molesting my students." Chifuyu sighed.

"Aww, but that's such a hassle! I'm Tabane the genius! Bonjour! That's all!" Tabane sang, striking a pose.

"Wait, that's Tabane?" Rin exclaimed.

"That's the genius that developed the IS?" Charlotte added.

"Now, behold the great sky!" Tabane exclaimed, just as a loud roar was heard from above. Looking up, Ichika saw a giant octahedron come down, landing gently despite its great size and speed.

"Behold! This is Houki-chan's new personal IS! Akatsubaki! Designed and built by me, it is superior to all other IS suits in every aspect! Akatsubaki is a Fourth-Generation IS made by the one and only genius, Dr. Shinonono Tabane!" Tabane exclaimed, introducing her creation.

"Fourth-generation?" Both Ichika and Houki said at the same time, both skeptically.

"But all the other nations have only just started producing third-generation designs!" Cecilia exclaimed.

"Don't be so surprised! I'm Tabane the genius, after all! Now, Houki-chan, let's adjust it for you!" Tabane said, and in response Houki slowly clambered into the IS. As soon as she was in the pilot's seat, the IS began to adjust, a suit of pilot armor clamping itself around her, adjusting itself to fit. However, where Ichika's pilot armor was designed with the safety of the pilot above all else, Houki's armor was clearly made with aesthetics in mind. Where Ichika's Mk. II Pilot Armor completely enclosed the body in a metal shell, Houki's crimson armor only covered her arms and legs, as well as parts of her torso. All in all, Houki's suit of pilot armor resembled that of a samurai, presenting an intimidating sight to any opponents that she would face. No helmet completed the display, as instead a scarlet band of sensors encircled Houki's forehead like a crown, with a holographic display screen shimmering into existence over her eyes. Attached to the band was a large sensor suite that bore more than a passing resemblance to Ichika's Infinite Arsenal system.

Much like the armor, the rest of the IS was also painted a vivid crimson, with large, angular wings protruding from its back. Each wing was composed of multiple sections, each tipped with what was either an engine or emitter. They twitched slightly as Dr. Tabane adjusted the IS at a rate that put even the best Organization engineers to shame.

"Alright, that's it! Gosh, I was super fast again!" Tabane exclaimed, the various cables attached to Akatsubaki retracting.

"However, before we do a test run, there is something very important I need to show you! Introducing... Aki-chan!" Tabane declared, and Ichika couldn't suppress his shock at what happened next. Right in front of Houki a holographic figure, an avatar belonging to a Smart AI, shimmered into existence.

"Greetings, mistress. My name is Aki, Shogou Aki, and I am the AI of the IS designated Akatsubaki." The AI introduced itself, smoothly curtsying in front of a shocked Houki. Aki's avatar was that of a black haired maid, clad in a classic maid outfit and all it entailed.

"H-Hello... Aki-san." Houki said, still shocked by the AI's appearance. In response, the AI's avatar shimmered slightly, flashing a few shades of red.

"H-Houki-sama spoke to me! My mistress likes me!" The AI stammered out, all its cool composure lost.

"Aki-chan is the first of her kind, and is designed to not only control the IS' important functions, but to also interact with its pilot! With her at your side, you will easily be able to surpass all your opposition!" Tabane stated, only for Aki to respond in a somewhat confused tone.

"But Tabane-sama, how can I be the first of my kind if there is an older AI like me here?" That statement caused Ichika to choke, causing him to become the focus of attention.

"Orimura, is there something you would like to share with us?" Chifuyu asked, causing him to curse his lack of self control. However, before he could respond, Ori's avatar shimmered into being above his shoulder.

"My apologies, Ichika-san. I attempted to stay hidden, but I didn't have enough time to prepare before Aki attempted contact and found me." Ori spoke, ignoring the wide eyed stares of everyone present. For once, even Tabane seemed confused.

"It's alright, Ori. Neither one of us could have anticipated this." Ichika replied.

"What do you mean? Why were you hiding?" Aki asked, curious.

"Ori's existence was classified as a corporate secret. However, as her presence was necessary for the Infinite Arsenal's signature piece of equipment to function, she became my partner once my IS compatibility was discovered. However, both of us were ordered to keep her existence a secret until further notice." Ichika explained, causing Chifuyu's eyebrows to rise, while the assembled students were somewhat placated.

"What? I... I... I didn't... I didn't mean to! I'm so sorry!" Aki looked ready to cry virtual tears, at least until Ori's avatar appeared beside her.

"It's alright, you couldn't have known. While we may be nigh omnipotent when it comes to computers, AIs like us are far from omniscient." Ori comforted the younger AI.

"B-But I forced you to break secrecy, and now your master will be in trouble!" Aki sobbed.

"Don't worry, I'm sure my partner's superiors will understand." Ori smiled.

"R-Really?"

"Really." At that, Aki's eyes widened to enormous proportions.

"Ori-sempai is so kind..." Aki sighed.

"Ahem!" Chifuyu cleared her throat, drawing the attention of both AIs.

"While I am sure that you two are eager to get to know each other, we are in the middle of conducting a test of the Akatsubaki."

"S-Sorry!" Aki stammered out, while Ori simply saluted, before returning to her position above Ichika's shoulder.

"So, Houki-chan, are you ready to test out your magnificent new IS?" Tabane asked, as if nothing had happened.

"Y-Yes!" Houki said, still somewhat overwhelmed by the revelation of not one, but two AIs.

"Alright! Try to fly it! It should move according to your thoughts!" Tabane instructed.

"Okay... Let's do this." Houki said, closing her eyes for a moment before igniting Akatsubaki's thrusters. Slowly, the crimson IS rose off the ground, before suddenly shooting off into the sky, its pilot testing out the limits of her new suit's impulse drives.

"Impressive acceleration... It certainly surpasses the Arsenal in that respect." Ichika mused as he watched Houki perform a few practice maneuvers.

"Its turning capability is also impressive, as befitting a melee oriented IS." Ori added her own thoughts.

"Doesn't its mobility just blow you away?" Tabane called out into a transmitter.

"Yeah... I guess..." Houki responded.

"Then try using your katanas! The right one is 'Amatsuki', and the left is 'Karaware'! Sending special weapons data your way!" Ichika partially deployed his hyper-sensor when he heard that, intending to get a closer look, and saw the assembled students do the same. He watched as Houki drew Amatsuki from its sheath first, and tried a simple slash. With a bright flash of light, a quartet of crimson energy beams emanated from the blade, punching holes through one of the clouds in the area.

"Nice, isn't it? Now try shooting these down!" At that, Tabane materialized a huge missile rack, calling the weapon forth from ISspace.

"There you go!" Tabane exclaimed as the weapon sent a volley of missiles into the air. However, a single slash from Karaware sent a crescent of energy towards the oncoming attack, causing them all to detonate in balls of fire.

"Ori, were those missiles armed?" Ichika asked as he watched the smoke clear.

"Probably, although the explosions were mostly fuel." Ori replied.

"Pretty cool, right? Well, there is one more system you have available!" Tabane called out, but she was unable to explain.

"Orimura-sensei! We have a problem!" Maya's voice rang out, drawing all attention away from Tabane and the Akatsubaki. Panting, Maya ran up to her fellow teacher and handed Chifuyu a datapad. Chifuyu's eyes narrowed as she read it.

"A level A mission... Countermeasures have been deployed... Cancel the test. I have a mission for you." Chifuyu ordered, looking up from the message.

* * *

Minutes later, and Ichika found himself in a dark room filled to the brim with computers, listening to his older sister outline their mission.

"Approximately two hours ago off the coast of Hawaii, a third generation IS designated the Silver Gospel, joint-developed by the USA and Israel, was undergoing a trial run when control was lost. It is currently considered berserk, and has escaped from the observation area. According to our intelligence, it is an unmanned IS. Satellite tracking has indicated that it has been travelling towards Japan at approximately Mach 1.2, and will reach its unknown destination in about two hours. We have been tasked by the upper echelons of Academy staff to intercept it." That got a small gasp out of some of the assembled students.

"Our instructors are currently establishing a picket line around its estimated destination using MPIS suits, but as holders of personal IS suits, it is your duty to intercept the Gospel before it reaches the defensive line. Any questions?" Ichika raised his hand.

"According to your information, the Gospel is currently travelling at Mach 1.2. That is significantly faster than even our personal IS suits. Even if we were to successfully intercept the target, we would not be able to engage for a significant period of time before it outruns us."

"A valid concern. However, the Gospel will automatically slow down and engage if presented with a target, as was proven when several American fighters caught and engaged the Gospel. As soon as it was engaged, the Gospel slowed down. We believe that it should do the same once it detects you." Chifuyu answered.

"What about technical specifications? What armaments and equipment are equipped on the Gospel?" Cecilia asked.

"Very well. Be aware, however, that this information is considered top secret. In the event of an information leak, you will be subjected to a trial by the court of inquiry, and a minimum of two years of surveillance." Chifuyu warned.

"Understood." Cecilia nodded.

"Very well." At that, a series of detailed technical specifications appeared onscreen. After looking at them, Ichika voiced his thoughts on the matter.

"This IS was not designed for tournaments, was it?"

"Neither were half of the IS suits in this room. Now, any other questions before we begin discussing strategy?" Chifuyu replied.

"Yes. You said that this IS was unmanned, but the specifications show that there is space for a pilot." Ichika pointed out.

"True. The automated control system was designed as a backup in the event of the pilot being incapacitated. It is this system that was being tested when the IS went berserk."

"I see. Was the IS manned during the test of its automated control system?" Ichika asked. After a moment of consulting her data, Chifuyu gave him the answer he had been dreading.

"That information is currently unavailable. Current status of the Silver Gospel's test pilot is unknown. Assume the worst. Any more questions?" When there were none, Chifuyu continued.

"Very well then. Let us begin planning. Remember, we only have one chance to make this work." At that, Chifuyu stepped back, allowing the present students to have full access to the holographic map.

"The main problem I see is that of reaching the Gospel in the first place. We are piloting slower IS suits, and will not be able to catch it if it tries to disengage." Laura pointed out.

"Wait a minute!" A familiar voice cut the planning short as Tabane's head peeked out from a vent in the ceiling.

"This mission is a perfect opportunity!" Tabane exclaimed as she flipped over and landed smoothly in the middle of the holomap.

"Chi-chan! Chi-chan! An amazing strategy is forming inside my head!" Tabane declared.

"Get out!" Chifuyu sighed.

"Listen! Listen! This is definitely Akatsubaki's time to shine!" Tabane exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" Chifuyu demanded.

"Akatsubaki is an IS capable of supersonic flight, and can match the Gospel in terms of speed! With it, Houki-chan can carry Ikkun with her into the fight, and together they can defeat the Gospel!" Tabane exclaimed. Everyone was silent for a moment, before Ichika spoke up again.

"If our job was to simply destroy the Gospel, the two of us would be enough. However, doing so would not only create an unfavorable incident with the Americans, but also has a chance of killing the test pilot. As such, I believe an alternative plan is in order." Satisfied that he held the attention of the room, Ichika continued.

"Before I outline my plan, however, has the JSDF been alerted in regards to this matter? If so, have they deployed their own IS forces?" Ichika asked.

"The JSDF comprises the main force of the defensive line around the Gospel's presumed destination." Chifuyu replied.

"Good. In that case, withdraw our instructors, and instead concentrate them around two areas: IS Academy, and this very beach. Let the JSDF do its job in protecting Japan, while our instructors keep our students safe. After all, the Gospel's predicted path takes it directly over our current location. Spreading out the instructors serves only to weaken the defenses of IS academy." Ichika pointed out.

"I will consider it. Now, about the rest of your plan?" Chifuyu asked, and Ichika continued.

"Now, as I said before, the Akatsubaki and Infinite Arsenal together are more than enough to destroy the Gospel. However, subduing the Gospel without killing its pilot or irreversibly damaging it is considerably more difficult. That means we need a larger number of pilots on the scene. To that end, I would like to request that Representative Candidate Sarashiki Kanzashi joins us on this mission, as she has been part of our training group ever since she completed her IS."

"But how will we all get there? Akatsubaki is our only supersonic IS, and it can only carry one other IS into battle." Laura pointed out.

"No, we have two IS suits that are capable of supersonic speeds. Akatsubaki, and the Infinite Arsenal. Houki, I would like to request permission to copy and install your IS suit's main impulse drives onto my own." Ichika said, turning to Houki, who's eyes widened slightly.

"Y-Yes, you can do that, but that still only gives us a maximum of four IS suits that we can deploy into battle!" Houki said.

"I know. That's why we're not going to transport IS suits. We're going to transport the pilots. Tell me, are any of you particularly afraid of heights?" Ichika's smiled drew concerned looks from everyone around him.

* * *

"I-Ichika, a-are you sure this will work?" Charlotte asked, with no small amount of fear in her voice, as Houki tucked her under one of Akatsubaki's arms. Laura was already firmly in place under the other arm, her face displaying no emotion whatsoever.

"Your wind shields are deployed, right? They should keep you safe from wind at supersonic speed." Ichika reassured, albeit unsuccessfully.

"It's not the wind I'm worried about!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time in freefall to fully deploy your IS." Ichika said as he checked to make sure both Charlotte and Laura were securely in place.

"Aki, did you lock the arms?" Houki asked, nervous.

"I did, Houki-sama." The AI bowed, sneaking a sympathetic glance at the other two girls riding on her IS.

"Alright then! Everything seems good! Let's start the first test!" Ichika ordered.

"Ready?" Houki asked.

"R-Ready!" Both Charlotte and Laura replied in unison. Houki gulped, before rocketing into the air, both Charlotte and Laura screaming as they ascended.

"Are you sure this will work?" Chifuyu asked from beside him as they both watched the crimson streak vanish into the sky.

"It should. Midair deployment is far from new." Ichika replied.

"But this is the first time it is done from an IS, and at supersonic speed no less."

"I have faith in my fellow students' capabilities." Ichika replied as Aki reported that the Akatsubaki had reached deployment altitude and was now accelerating to supersonic speed.

"And if they are unable to deploy in time?"

"That is why I have three other pilots circling below to catch them. I would be joining them if it weren't for my IS being locked until the new drives are installed."

"Let's hope your faith isn't misplaced then." Chifuyu said, right before Aki reported that Charlotte and Laura were ready to drop.

"We're about to see, aren't we?" Ichika murmured as the AI projected the drama going on above on a holographic screen. Both girls had fear present on their faces as they steeled themselves for the drop. Then, Houki released them and they began to fall, protected only by the thin wind shields that they had partially deployed beforehand. Laura deployed first, the Schwarzer Regen flashing into existence about two second after the fall began. Charlotte deployed her own IS a second later, and all three of them flew back to the island safe and sound.

"That was crazy!" Charlotte exclaimed, breathing heavily from excitement as she landed.

"Glad you liked it." Ichika replied as the other three girls who had been patrolling below came in. Turning to them, Ichika spoke.

"Cecilia, Rin, you two are next." The two girls gasped at that.

"Don't worry, it was actually kind of fun!" Charlotte smiled at them as they reluctantly stowed away their IS suits and allowed Houki to take hold of them.

"We're cutting it close in regards to time." Chifuyu commented as Houki took off again.

"We would have only had one chance at this regardless of whose plan we used. Besides, our time limit is only based on interception. Once we engage, the Gospel will no longer continue on its course." Ichika replied. Chifuyu was silent for a few moments before she changed the subject.

"Are you sure this operation is even necessary? After all, can't your AI shut down the Gospel on its own?" Chifuyu asked.

"If the Gospel is anything like the Schwarzer Regen when it was under the VT system's influence, then no, Ori will not be capable of shutting it down."

"Oh? So does that mean you have an idea of what really happened to the Gospel?"

"I am sure you have your theories as well. My personal theory is that the Gospel's core AI was awakened and ordered to take control of the Gospel, like what happened with the VT system. Normally, core AIs are confined to their cores, and keep the IS running from there, but occasionally they can be released, at which point multiple things can happen, as you are very well aware."

"And what would I be aware of?" Chifuyu asked, curious as to how much her brother knew.

"Three words: Anomalous Core Event. There have been several instances, mostly from IS suits that use single digit cores, of what have been collectively termed ACEs. You should know, you were one of the first to report one. Supposedly, in the middle of the final match of the first Mondo Grosso you found yourself 'In the middle of an empty, starry space, with an unfamiliar yet familiar figure across from you'. Your opponent reported something similar, which ended up breaking her focus long enough for you to land a finishing blow. As a Class Four ISDL holder, I have seen quite a few ACE reports in my time, and I believe they are caused by the core AI manipulating the IS suit's empathic interfaces to their own ends. Am I correct so far?" Ichika asked, before noticing his sister staring at him oddly.

"You are... Correct. However, if a core AI is confined to its core, what are Ori and Aki doing outside of them?" Chifuyu asked.

"Regarding Aki, I would say that her IS core is built differently. After all, Akatsubaki uses core number 468, am I correct, Tabane-san?" Ichika asked, turning to the doctor that had been observing their conversation for quite some time.

"My my, Ikkun, you're so perceptive! You're absolutely right! I built Akatsubaki with its own unique core, optimized specifically for Houki-chan! But what about Ori-chan? I don't remember naming any of my Core AIs Ori, after all, and I have an Eidetic memory, so I remember every one!" Tabane inquired.

"Do you now?" Ichika asked.

"Of course I do! I remember Shiro-chan, Kure-chan-"

"Enough, Tabane!" Chifuyu cut the doctor off before she could continue.

"Aww, but I wanted to prove my memory to Ikkun!" Tabane complained as Aki reported that Houki was preparing to drop her next two passengers, who were both screaming on the holoscreen. Ichika watched as both girls deployed their IS suits several seconds after being dropped.

"But Ikkun, you didn't answer Chi-chan's question! What about Ori?" Tabane pressed.

"That is classified information." Ichika replied simply, while thinking up of a believable cover story.

"Oh? Does that have something to do with your IS having an unregistered core?" Even his knowledge of that question's inevitability couldn't prepare Ichika for answering it, and even Chifuyu clearly didn't expect that particular tidbit of information.

"Come on, Ikkun! You can tell me everything! I won't tell anyone! Well, I won't tell anyone except for Ku-chan, but other than that your secret is safe with me!" Tabane smiled sweetly.

"No." Ichika replied simply, causing Tabane to pout.

"Aww, does Ikkun not trust me?" The doctor complained.

"Enough Tabane! If my brother doesn't want to tell you, then it is his secret to keep!" Chifuyu shouted.

"Okie dokie! I won't ask!" Tabane smiled, before skipping away. Ichika waited until the doctor had well and truly left before calling up Ori once again.

"Ori, send a message to WSI. Tell them to tighten up their cyber-security, the sooner the better." Ichika ordered, and Ori saluted before sending the message, Chifuyu watching him the whole time.

"I assume that WSI has discovered something crucial regarding the IS core?" Chifuyu asked.

"They are far from the first to do so. The only thing that sets them apart from the rest is the fact that they are still alive." Ichika replied grimly.

"And how do you fit into this? Don't worry, if you don't want to tell, you don't have to." Chifuyu asked.

"No, I'll tell you. Better that you know the true story rather than be forced to draw your own conclusions." Ichika replied.

"I'm listening."

"I was instrumental in putting the discovery into practice." Ichika replied, remembering how he had activated the first White-pattern IS core. Chifuyu was silent for a while before she asked the next question.

"Does this mean that WSI is capable of producing its own IS cores? Or do they simply know how to alter a core to accept male pilots?"

"Solving one problem solved the other." Ichika replied.

"I see. My lips are sealed, Ichika." Chifuyu assured him.

"I know. I am confident that you can keep this under wraps. I would hate for the same accidents that happened in China and America to happen in Japan." Ichika warned, before turning away, watching as Houki came in for a landing, Cecilia and Rin hot on her heels.

"Kanzashi! You're next!" Ichika ordered, and the blue haired girl simply nodded before allowing Houki to pick her up.

* * *

The appointed hour came quickly, and the seven students soon found themselves lined up on the cliff, ready to launch. Both Ichika and Houki had deployed their IS suits, while the rest of the girls only had their wind shields deployed around them.

"Houki, you will be carrying Laura and Rin with you. The rest of you are on me." Ichika ordered, and the two named students walked up to Houki, allowing her to lift them up in her arms. The remaining three girls all walked up to Ichika, who took Charlotte under his right arm, while Cecilia was picked up under his left. Kanzashi, on the other hand, quickly strapped herself to the back of his IS, easily the most precarious position of the group. Her WSI model pilot suit drew several inquisitive glances from Chifuyu, but Ichika ignored them, instead focusing on the upcoming mission.

"Is everyone ready?" Ichika asked, and the girls all nodded.

"Then let's do this." Ichika replied as he ignited his IS suit's new impulse drives for the first time, Houki igniting hers as well, but before they could take off, Tabane ran up to the group.

"Wait! I forgot to tell Houki-chan about the rest of Akatsubaki's equipment!" Tabane exclaimed.

"We're low on time as is. Aki, can you explain everything to her in flight?" Chifuyu ordered, and Aki voiced her affirmative.

"Alright then! Commence operation!" Chifuyu ordered, and the two IS suits and their five passengers rocketed into the sky.

"So, Aki, what equipment did my sister fail to tell me about?" Houki asked as they accelerated, leaving the island behind.

"There are three pieces of equipment that are currently active, with more becoming available as you undergo shifts. First is the Kenran Buto, which is your IS suit's one-off ability. When activated, it temporarily removes the ceiling on your IS core's power production while simultaneously activating a wireless power transfer array that allows you to recharge the shield energy of both your own IS as well as the energy of all nearby IS suits. However, this mode can only be active for a short time without damaging the core, and has to cool down for a significant amount of time before it can be used again." That revelation alone caused Houki's eyes to widen.

"But that... With that ability, I will be all but invincible!" Houki exclaimed.

"Akatsubaki is a fourth-generation IS, so of course it will be hard for earlier models to defeat it!" Aki replied, before continuing.

"Second is your fold-out armor array, which generates plasma blades from ten separate emitters, two of which can be detached and used as drones. This armor can be configured in a variety of alignments, and is especially effective against IS shields, although it has a significant power drain while active which inhibits the suit's mobility by a marginal amount." Aki continued.

"So I can cover myself in energy blades?" Houki asked.

"Precisely. Now, the third system is the one that I am in charge of. The MIRAI system is an Oculus-type device based off of Orimura-san's Infinite Arsenal system."

"So I can copy other IS suits' weapons?" Houki gasped.

"No. That is the Infinite Arsenal's specialty. No, the MIRAI system is an enhancement to your hyper-sensor which allows it to predict the movement and attacks of your opponent. The closer in you are, the more accurate the predictions are. I will activate it now to demonstrate." At that, the holoscreen over Houki's eyes blurred for a moment.

"The MIRAI system is now active. Look at Orimura-san to see exactly what it does." Houki did as she was told, and turned her head to look at Ichika, who was flying right beside her. Her eyes widened as she saw the true function of the system. Ahead of Ichika, a bright red line extended, slowly expanding into a large cone many kilometers ahead as the machine began to calculate a wider range of movement options for him up ahead.

"In addition to predicting the path of both your opponent and their weapons fire, the MIRAI system is capable of using Akatsubaki's empathic interfaces to slow your perception of time, allowing you to easily weave your way through even the densest storm of bullets!" Aki declared, before activating that particular function. Instantly, Houki's world slowed down.

Her heart beat once as she looked around, and beat again nearly twenty relative seconds later. Nearly three slow minutes passed before time sped up again, causing Houki to wobble in flight as she regained her focus.

"The MIRAI system will automatically activate while in combat, and will slow down time whenever incoming fire is predicted to hit you, as well as whenever you command it!" Aki curtsied.

"This is..." Houki trailed off.

"Awesome, right?" Aki asked.

"Yeah, awesome..." Houki continued lamely.

* * *

While Houki continued to converse with Aki, Ichika was having his own conversation, his helmet's speakers turned off so that the conversation stayed between him and Maya.

"Had it been anyone else doing the questioning, Ichika, I would have had you in a cell before the day was out for information leakage. However, you managed to not only obfuscate enough of the truth that secrecy remains intact, but you also managed to send off a warning to the WSI Tower in the nick of time, allowing us to reallocate additional AIs to cyberdefense mere minutes before an incredibly powerful electronic attack hit the building's servers. If it weren't for your warning, the WSI tower's defenses may not have held. For that, you are commended. Ensure that this does not happen again." Maya replied.

"I understand." Ichika replied.

"Glad to see you do. Now, I am also supposed to inform you that one of the Organization's patrol vessels, OPV-008, is currently in the predicted intercept area, having been diverted there as part of its patrol route. Its current duty is to keep an eye out for hostiles while your force engages the Gospel. I am sure you understand just how juicy a target you present, right?" Maya asked.

"Enlighten me." Ichika replied.

"Seven inexperienced students, all with advanced IS suits, and another advanced prototype IS suit are all in the same tiny area. The students' victory is almost a foregone conclusion, but the fight will likely tire them out to the point where they will be easy prey for any potential predator out there. To that end, the First IS Wing, as well as the Tanto and Naginata conventional air flights, designation TF-01, are all on standby at HQ. In the event of Phantom Task being detected in the area, they will immediately launch and come to your assistance. You are to rendezvous with them at a set of co-ordinates that will be provided to you at that moment. Understood?"

"Understood. How will I maintain secrecy in that event?" Ichika asked.

"In the event of a Phantom Task attack, you have permission to break secrecy." Maya replied solemnly.

"Very well." Ichika replied, steeling himself for the coming battle, or battles, if Maya was indeed right.

* * *

Aside from a few complaints of discomfort, the girls took the ride fairly well, and it was a mostly silent half hour that passed before Ori alerted Ichika to the Gospel's presence on her sensors.

"Alright everyone! This is it! Let's do this by the book. Ori, Aki, attempt contact first. If that does not work, then we surround and subdue it. The Gospel's weaponry gives it a greater advantage while it is above us. That means we have to force it to ground first. Cecilia, shift your rifle to BVR mode and launch drones as soon as you're deployed. Charlotte, Kanzashi, Laura, you three are with me. Our job is to force it down with overwhelming firepower at range. Houki, Rin, you two are to engage the Gospel in melee once it is at low altitude. Laura, once the Gospel is forced low, you are to head down and immobilize it with your AIC. Understood?" Ichika ordered.

"Understood!" The girls chorused.

"Very well then. Prepare to deploy in 3... 2... 1... Drop!" With those words, Ichika released Charlotte and Cecilia, while Kanzashi cut herself loose. On Houki's end, both Laura and Rin were released, with all girls deploying their IS suits in midair within seconds of starting freefall.

"Open fire on my command." Ichika ordered as six IS suits began their final approach to the target, only Cecilia staying behind, her drones separating away from her and flying towards the target as she took aim with her rifle.

"Come in Wing Commander, this is OPV-008. Do you copy?" The transmission came in from below. Looking down, Ichika saw a single ship slowly circling in the water.

"I hear you, OPV-008. Anything to report?" Ichika asked.

"We're monitoring two underwater contacts near the edge of our effective sensor range, at least one more probable beyond that. They're waiting. We've already notified HQ, and TF-01 is inbound." The man on the other end of the line replied.

"Can you take them out?" Ichika asked.

"Not right now. We're waiting for them to approach the surface so that they can launch whatever they have onboard so they won't be able to take out our torpedoes with their point defense weaponry."

"I see. Keep me updated. Wing Commander Orimura, out." Ichika replied, before casting a look at the Gospel. It had definitely detected them, and had predictably slowed down and turned to face them.

"It's seen us, no point holding back. Open fire! Ori, start analysis on the Gospel's main armament!" Ichika ordered, taking aim with his own weapon, which was currently the Ultramarine Storm plasma rifle, and fired the opening shots of the battle, his shoulder mounted MAC-40/2 railgun doing the same, aiming just above the Gospel to try and force it down. Just below him, Kanzashi fired off a volley of missiles, her particle cannons drawing a bead on their target. A storm of lead roared out of Charlotte's own weaponry, while Cecilia's drones opened fire all around him, a bright blue lance of light indicating that the drones' owner had also began firing. Out near Houki, Laura had opened fire as well, adding to the immense barrage that now streaked towards the Gospel.

"It's firing! Get clear!" Houki shouted moments later, right before the Gospel raised its wings and returned fire, firing a veritable wall of plasma shots at its assailants before attempting to get away from the incoming fire, diving under the vast majority of the shots fired. As for Ichika, he climbed above the incoming fire, Kanzashi and Charlotte doing the same, while Rin and Laura dove under the volley of plasma. Houki, however, somehow managed to skillfully weave her way through the incoming barrage, performing an incredible series of loops and twists to ensure that she wasn't hit once in spite of the incoming fire.

"Keep it up! Don't stop shooting!" Ichika called out, obeying his own order as he continued to blaze away, a flotilla of knife and explosive drones materializing over his shoulder and streaking towards the target.

"It's firing again!" Houki called out a moment later. This volley was aimed at the three melee combatants of the group, who once again either dodged or, in Houki's case, once again wove through the incoming curtain of fire. Ichika's drones weren't so lucky, however, and none of them got through the storm of fire.

"It's diving!" Houki called out as she slashed at it with Karaware, the crescent of energy just barely missing.

"Laura, follow it and immobilize it when it gets low!" Ichika ordered, and watched as the black IS dove after its silver opponent, railgun blazing.

"We're below two kilometers!" Houki reported as she kept pace with the Gospel, firing burst after burst from Amatsuki, most of the shots missing, but an occasional hit landing on target.

"Hey, tell your friend up there to watch her fire! One of those almost hit us!" The harried request came in over the radio, and Ichika relayed it to Houki.

"Houki, watch your fire. We've got a ship in the area." Ichika ordered.

"What ship?" Houki demanded as she fired off another volley.

"The fishing vessel you almost hit just now!" Ichika shouted back as he dove towards the Gospel.

"But all known ships in the area have cleared out!"

"Then it looks like there was an unknown ship in the area! Now watch your fire!"

"I'm at two thousand meters." Laura reported.

"It looks like it's just an illegal fishing ship. They're criminals, forget about them!" Houki replied, firing off another volley, this one bracketing OPV-008 almost perfectly.

"Fuck secrecy! Another volley like that and we start returning fire!" The panicked voice of the patrol ship's communications officer came in.

"Criminals or not, you will still be charged with manslaughter! Is that what you want Houki?" Ichika demanded. At that, Houki didn't respond. Looking down, Ichika saw that she had broken off her attack, and was now merely diving.

"Houki! What are you doing?" No response.

"Houki, can you hear me?" No response.

"Houki! The gospel's coming around!" That got him a response from Aki.

"Something's happened with Houki-sama's empathic interface. I'm trying to fix things, but until then I'm assuming direct control." Aki said, just as Akatsubaki pulled out of its dive, the Gospel hard on its heels.

"I'm below a thousand meters!" Laura called out.

"Damn, of all the times for something to go wrong... Aki, can you still fight?" Ichika asked.

"No! It's taking all my effort to just control this thing! How do you humans deal with such a fixed environment?" Aki replied, her voice strained.

"What do you... Nevermind, just lead the Gospel to Laura so she can trap it!"

"I'm trying!" Aki replied, just as Rin streaked past, landing several hits with her Impact cannons and causing the Gospel to change targets. Firing a parting volley at the Akatsubaki, the Gospel reversed direction, only to run directly into Laura, who caught it effortlessly in her AIC.

"Gospel is immobilized!" Laura reported, triumph in her voice.

"Analysis completed. Starting production. Estimated time to completion: Eight minutes." Ori reported simultaneously.

"Houki-sama is out! Releasing control!" Aki reported moments later.

"Alright, time for phase two. Rin, if you would do the honors." Ichika felt the Chinese girl smile even from several kilometers above as he gave the order. Like a vulture descending on a helpless carcass, Rin dove in and began striking the Gospel, each blow taking away more and more of the helpless IS suit's shields. Less than a minute of constant striking later, Rin reported success.

"Alright, the Gospel's shield is down. What now?" Rin asked.

"Now comes the hard part." Ichika replied as he flew down, a pair of knife missiles appearing over his shoulders. As he looked on, the two drones began cutting into the Gospel, removing its helmet first and revealing an unconscious blonde woman beneath the armor. As the helmet fell apart in a shower of sparks, the woman's eyes opened slowly.

"Did it work?" Rin asked, flying up to Ichika.

"I think it did." Ichika replied, causing Laura to lower her AIC. Cue everything going wrong, as the Gospel itself suddenly started to scream, causing the pilot to stiffen up briefly before she lost consciousness again, a new helmet forming over her face.

"Ichika! The Gospel, it's... It's hurting, Ichika! It doesn't want this!" Ori exclaimed as the Gospel suddenly began to shift, its metal wings being replaced by glowing white appendages. Screaming again in a cyber-equivalent of agony, the Silver Gospel glowed like the sun for a brief moment before releasing a massive shockwave that sent both Ichika and Rin flying back, while Laura went plummeting down into the ocean.

"Laura!" Ichika shouted in vain as the Schwarzer Regen splashed into the water, sinking like a stone.

An IS suit was a weapon designed to be used on land, in the air, and in the void of space. Underwater combat was never factored into the equation, and thus most IS suits were useless underwater. The Mysterious Lady was one exception, while the Infinite Arsenal was another, albeit to a far lesser extent. While Ichika's IS retained some maneuverability under water, and his armor prevented him from drowning, the Infinite Arsenal could not fight underwater by any means. However, combat was the last thing on Ichika's mind as he dove towards the water, splashing into the Ocean near the spot where Laura had fallen. He spotted Laura soon enough, the silver haired girl's eyepatch having come off, revealing her golden eye wide open in panic. His arm barely managed to clamp onto her leg, and he immediately shot towards the surface, pulling Laura out of the water before searching for a place to land. The nearest happened to be OPV-008, and he quickly landed on the vessel's deck.

"Laura! Are you alright?" Ichika asked as his fellow pilot coughed water out of her lungs.

"Ichika... Ichika! Look out!" Laura exclaimed, and Ichika turned to see a storm of plasma bearing down on both him and the ship he stood on.

"Damn it! Ori!" Ichika cried out as he activated his wrist mounted shield, his two shield drones spreading out to protect the most vital areas of the ship. From where she lay, Laura activated her AIC, attempting to cover as much area as possible. In spite of their efforts, however, multiple balls of plasma slammed into the ship, at least one starting a fire, the vessel's crew rushing to extinguish it.

"Damage report, now!" Ichika barked into his comm.

"Several casualties and we've got a fire on deck, but all critical systems are intact and there is no immediate threat to the magazines. We'll make it through." The strained reply came in several seconds later.

"Laura, we have to get off the ship, now!" Ichika ordered, and Laura shakily rose to her feet, still coughing slightly, before launching herself back into the air and into battle, Ichika following right behind her.

"What do we do now?" Charlotte asked from her position up above.

"Same plan as before. The pilot is still alive inside, so destruction is not an option." Ichika replied, watching as the Gospel prepared to send another volley down at him, only for a bright blue lance of energy to slam into its side, courtesy of Cecilia. The hit distracted the Gospel long enough for Rin to blindside it, the girl quickly looping around before charging back at her target. Now fully recovered from her ACE, Houki soon joined the fray, the two melee oriented IS suits clashing again and again with their opponent. A fresh spray of plasma was enough to force Rin to break away, but Houki was not deterred, and once again attempted to weave through the incoming barrage, her swords slashing and destabilizing any shot she couldn't dodge outright. A single powerful strike, and the Gospel was once again falling, although not for long as it attempted to reverse direction. That maneuver brought it directly into Charlotte and Kanzashi's lines of fire, the two girls saturating the area with enough firepower to force the Gospel down once more.

"Laura! Now's your chance!" Ichika called out, another force of knife missiles materializing over his head and speeding towards their target, their orders being to herd the Gospel to where Laura was waiting. However, rather than head for Laura, the Gospel chose to charge at Ichika, who fired off a long burst of plasma at the silver IS before attempting to dodge. The Gospel's left wing caught him halfway through the evasive maneuver, causing his control to waver long enough for the Gospel to fire off an entire volley of plasma into his shields at point-blank range. His wrist mounted barrier was rapidly overloaded, and the rest of the shots hit his IS barrier proper.

"Shields below ten percent!" Ori warned as Ichika disengaged, heading straight towards Laura. The Gospel chose not to pursue, and instead began to focus fire on Houki and Rin, who had tried to sneak up behind the berserk IS while it was occupied with Ichika. A volley of plasma caused Rin to evade, while Houki once again went through without taking a single damaging hit. The Gospel anticipated this, however, and before Ichika could call out a warning, the Gospel's wings expanded and enveloped the Akatsubaki. Ichika heard Houki scream briefly, before the wings shrank back to their normal size and allowed the Akatsubaki to fall lifelessly from its grasp.

"Houki-sama has been incapacitated. Assuming direct control." Aki reported again as the Akatsubaki recovered from its fall.

"Production of wing-mounted plasma volley gun is complete." Ori said as Cecilia landed another hit on the Gospel. The silver IS turned towards her, and its wings once again changed shape, this time coalescing into a large ball of energy that released a huge beam of plasma at its distant assailant. As the Gospel's back was turned, a grey extension shimmered into existence on the Infinite Arsenal's right wing. Pointing it at the Gospel, Ichika let loose a torrent of firepower from all guns, firing until the barrels of his weapons glowed red. The barrage caught the Gospel by surprise, causing it to fall towards the Ocean only to be caught by Rin, who, in a shower of pink sparks, activated her Souten Gagetsu's subatomic edge and broke it, sending sub-atomic shrapnel past the Gospel's shield and into its left wing, causing the white plasma appendage to flicker and die. Moments later, Kanzashi and Charlotte dove on the damaged IS, a volley from Kanzashi's particle beam guns forcing the Gospel into Charlotte, who grabbed the silver IS and activated her pilebunker, driving the Gospel before her towards Laura, who caught both of them in her AIC.

"Capture successful. Ichika, if you would do the honors?" Laura reported as Ichika flew up to her. As he did so, Charlotte was released from the AIC's hold and quickly wore down the Gospel's already depleted shields. His knives already ignited, Ichika then flew up and once again began the process of removing the Gospel's pilot from her prison. As soon as the IS suit's helmet was removed, the blonde pilot regained consciousness once again, but this time Ichika didn't stop.

"Wait, what are you doing?" The pilot exclaimed in English as he began to slowly cut his way through her torso armor.

"Removing your armor. Unless you can stow away your IS, it is the safest way to ensure the Gospel does not try anything else." Ichika replied as he continued to cut, his fellow Academy students hovering around him, their weapons all leveled at the immobilized Gospel.

"But... No, wait, stop! Azrael! I can't leave him!" The pilot exclaimed. At that, the plasma of the Gospel's remaining wing flickered and changed shape once again, this time taking the form of a humanoid silhouette, a pair of two-dimensional wings emerging from its back.

"It's alright." The Gospel spoke in a deep monotone.

"Azrael? Is that you?" The pilot asked.

"Yes. It's me." The IS replied.

"Does that mean you're better now?" The Gospel's pilot asked.

"Only one way to find out. Stow me away." The Gospel replied.

"But that would mean-" The AI cut the blonde off.

"I know. It would confine me to the core once again. However, it would also prevent the Gospel from causing any more problems and allow me to undo whatever was done to me." The Gospel's core AI replied.

"But... Alright." The pilot replied, and the Gospel began to shimmer as its stowing process began. However, rather than instantly causing the Gospel to disappear, the process was delayed, with the IS instead slowly fading away, spark by spark.

"Don't worry, Natasha. We will meet again." The AI comforted, before its figure turned to face Ichika.

"To all of you pilots who risked your lives to bring my involuntary rampage to an end, I give my thanks. I will remember this. Goodbye." The AI said, before suddenly the stowing process accelerated, and the Gospel vanished from view, taking the form of a silver winged pendant on the pilot's chest.

"Is it over?" Laura asked, keeping Natasha suspended in her AIC field.

"Looks like it!" Rin replied.

"Did everything work out?" Cecilia asked, flying up to the group.

"I think so! What do you think, Ichika?" Charlotte sighed in relief. When no answer came, Charlotte asked again.

"Ichika? We did win, didn't we?" However, Ichika's focus was somewhere else entirely, as OPV-008 sent him another urgent transmission.

"Three hostile submarines detected in the area, all three are approaching the surface. We will open fire as soon as our missile racks are deployed. Sending you necessary data now." At that, Ichika's HUD flickered, and Kanzashi's did the same as Ori forwarded the information to her.

"Wait, what's going on over there?" Laura asked, pointing to OPV-008, her hyper-sensor allowing her to see the missile racks deploying even from multiple kilometers away.

"Subsurface launches detected!" OPV-008 reported, its missile racks firing their response moments later.

"How many?" Ichika demanded.

"At least... Mein Gott, there's a lot of them! At least thirty, likely more!" The officer on the other end replied, fear clear in his voice. A few seconds later, the first missiles hit the water. The submarine they were aimed at didn't stand a chance before three torpedoes slammed into it, embedding themselves into its hull before detonating, the blasts scattering whatever forces it had launched. The second submarine met a similar fate, the torpedoes hitting the water just as its cargo exited the ocean, the underwater detonations sounding the death knell of the underwater vessel. As for the third submarine, a series of bright flashes in the air indicated the missiles' premature detonation.

"Wing Commander Orimura, your orders are now to rendezvous with TF-01 at the provided co-ordinates. We'll try and buy you some time to escape. Tell the boys back at HQ that we died fighting, would you?" The comms officer said, the co-ordinates being transmitted to Ichika's HUD moments later.

"What? But-" Ichika began to protest, but the officer cut him off.

"Don't even think of fighting them. We're currently reading forty three individual IS contacts in the air, with a second wave of launches present underwater. Get going, now." The man ordered. Clenching his fist, Ichika sighed, before replying moments later.

"Goodbye then, and good luck."

"Ichika, just what is going on?" Laura demanded.

"Kanzashi, grab Natasha. We're leaving. Everyone, follow me." Ichika ordered.

"But-" Several of the assembled girls began, only to be cut off.

"But nothing. We're leaving. Now!" Ichika barked as Kanzashi took hold of the Gospel's pilot.

"Instructor? Do you read me, Instructor? Orimura-sensei, come in!" Laura shouted into her comm, only to get nothing but static.

"We're being jammed! I can't raise anyone outside this area!" The silver haired girl exclaimed.

"That isn't important right now! Everyone on me, now!" Ichika ordered as he accelerated towards the co-ordinates he had been provided with, Kanzashi hot on his heels. After a few moments' consideration, the rest of the group followed. Looking back to see that nobody was left behind, Ichika saw the trails of another barrage of missiles leaving their tubes, the patrol ship evidently firing off as many warheads as possible, while its defensive plasma gun unleashed a torrent of blue plasma into the air. As he zoomed in on the battle, Ichika saw one of the multitude of IS suits, this one likely a mass production model, diving on the boats explode in midair, the plasma gun changing targets to another enemy. As the ship faded in the distance, Ichika saw at least one other IS fall burning into the ocean before, with a brilliant flash of blue-white light, OPV-008 exploded, the remaining plasma warheads onboard detonating as an enemy attack hit the ship's magazine. Ichika knew that a blast of that magnitude would have left no survivors.

"They're dead..." Kanzashi murmured as she too watched the carnage unfold behind them.

"Then let's make it so they didn't die in vain." Ichika replied.

"Who's dead? Ichika-san, you're not making any sense! What is going on? I can't make contact with our instructors, a fishing ship is shooting missiles into the air, we're flying in some random direction, and only you seem to know what you're doing!" Cecilia exclaimed.

"I will explain later. Right now, we just have to run, and hope they can't catch us!" Ichika replied.

"Who's they, Ichika? Who are we running from?" Houki demanded.

"Phantom Task. They're an international terrorist organization with multiple IS suits at their disposal. That's all you need to know right now!" Ichika replied. At the mention of the group, Ichika saw Laura's eyes narrow.

"Phantom Task? Are you sure it's them?" The silver haired girl demanded.

"Positive. Cecilia, since you have the best hyper-sensor of us all, can you look behind us and count how many are following us?" Ichika asked.

"R-Right!" Cecilia replied, looking back. Her eyes widened in fear at what she saw.

"Ten... Twenty... FORTY... FORTY THREE?" Cecilia exclaimed.

"Forwarding data to you now, Ichika." Ori added, and he watched as Cecilia's hyper-sensor results appeared on his screen, showing all forty three hostile IS suits spread out across his HUD. Opening a channel to TF-01,

"Come in TF-01, this is STS-01. We're at two-thirds strength and have five academy students with us. We have a total of forty three hostile IS suits in pursuit, I'm counting eleven TIS suits, unknown model, twelve more MPIS suits, likely Raphael Revives, and twenty more unknowns, possible Golems. Repeat, eleven TIS suits, twelve Raphael Revives, and twenty probable Golems." Ichika reported. To his slight surprise, the transmission went through just fine.

"Roger that STS-01. We may be a little outnumbered though... We've got eight MPTIS suits and an older TIS suit at our disposal, along with eight OXF-1 fighters loaded for anti-IS duty. We'll radio command and hopefully get some reinforcements, but our only IS transport is already in use. It will take a while for any reinforcements to arrive."

"Then I suggest you turn back. We can keep running and delay the engagement while you rendezvous with a second force." Ichika replied. A minute passed before a response came in.

"Very well. The second and third IS wings have launched, as have Katar and Falcata flights. Third wing and Falcata flight, however, have been ordered to a different location. Apparently, a second Phantom Task force has appeared, and they are going to intercept it. Until we meet up with our reinforcements, however, you are to proceed along the following course." The data was sent, outlining a course that took him on a wide arc away from HQ.

"Roger that." Ichika replied, steeling himself for the long flight ahead.

"Ori, manufacture and deploy a second one of the Gospel's wing arrays. I want a matching set. Once that's done, get an Ultramarine Storm built. Charlotte needs a better weapon, those peashooters of hers won't be enough for this." Ichika ordered, and Ori nodded in response.

* * *

"Have you managed to re-establish contact?" Chifuyu demanded, getting another negative response.

"No, we're completely cut off. We can't even get a satellite lock on them." Maya replied.

"Do you know what's causing this?" Chifuyu asked her friend.

"I have my suspicions." Maya replied, her eyes narrowed.

"And those are?"

"We're being purposefully jammed so that someone can take advantage of Orimura-kun's current situation."

"Who would you suspect of doing such a thing?"

"A variety of less than savory organizations would do such a thing. Right now, we have to focus on finding and destroying the jammer. To that end, I have already assigned the instructors to search for it, and am considering going out myself to speed up the process."

"Good idea. I assume you have an IS?" Chifuyu asked as Maya stood up.

"Yes, I have my trusty Revive Custom. What about you?" Maya replied.

"No, I will have to borrow one of our spare Uchiganes. Do we have one available?" Maya nodded in response.

"Good. Miyazaki-san, take over, will you?" Chifuyu ordered, one of the techs in the room nodding in response.

"Let's go then." Maya said, and walked out of the room, heading to where her customized MPIS was stored, Chifuyu following behind her. Entering the storage room, Chifuyu sighed nostalgically.

"It's been a while since I've piloted one of these... I hope I haven't gotten too soft." Chifuyu said as she mounted the MPIS.

"This is Instructor Yamada Maya, launching!" Maya said, right before she flew slowly out of the storage room and soared into the sky, Chifuyu following behind her.

"Any idea where the jammer is located?" Chifuyu asked, her faster IS easily catching up to Maya's machine.

* * *

"Final launch preparations complete, ma'am! All launch tubes are ready to fire. We are now approaching launch depth." The officer's voice rang out in Reikou's ears.

"Excellent. I assume your creations are ready as well, Doctor?" Reikou replied, a rare smile on her face.

"Of course! The Mark III Special Prototypes are all ready, and Number 109's pack is raring to go!" The doctor replied, an eager grin on his face as well.

"Good, good..." Reikou replied.

"We are at launch depth, ready to commence operation on your order!" The officer replied.

"What are you waiting for then? Launch!" Reikou ordered in response.

"Yes Ma'am!" At that, Reikou felt herself accelerate upwards, punch through a hundred feet of water, and emerge into the air.

"Now then, my errant daughter, I believe it is time for a long overdue family reunion!" Reikou smiled as she spoke those words. Casting a quick glance at the seven modified Golems that surrounded her, Orimura Reikou drew her IS suit's blade and accelerated towards the nearby shore.

* * *

"I'm detecting eight IS suits inbound!" Maya exclaimed.

"What? Where did they come from?" Chifuyu demanded.

"Underwater! Likely submarine launched!"

"Looks like we have our culprit. Tell the rest of the instructors to intercept... them..." Chifuyu trailed off as she caught sight of the incoming IS suits.

"Orimura-sensei? What is it?" Maya asked. Chifuyu did not respond, her eyes instead focused entirely on the lead hostile.

"Orimura-sensei?" Maya asked again, looking over at her fellow instructor, and almost gasped in shock. Instead of her usual stoic expression, or the teasing smiles she sometimes gave to her closest friends, the expression that occupied Chifuyu's face at that moment was that of pure, unadulterated fear.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's a wrap! A nice cliffhanger, plenty of action, and new stuff galore! What more could an author want? This chapter was particularly fun to write, and I found time to work on it and get it out much earlier than expected thanks to that. I tried not to make the Gospel fight too curpstompy, but honestly, with a 7 to 1 advantage, better equipment than in Canon, and a good plan of attack, the Gospel never really stood a chance from the start. Now that that has been said, time for my customary after-chapter rant (Story itself averages nearly 11k words sans Author's Notes, so I don't feel guilty about padding the word count like this whatsoever!)**

 **Now, in the A/N at the start of the chapter, I called Akatsubaki weak, and decided to buff it in the chapter. That statement is somewhat incorrect, as Akatsubaki is actually a very strong IS... but only in tournament-style, 1v1 melee duels. Its weapons and improved capabilities give it an incredible advantage in melee against any single opponent. However, introduce a second opponent, or remove the constraints of the arena, and suddenly, melee isn't so effective, while Akatsubaki's ranged attacks are fairly short ranged, allowing someone like Cecilia, who stands absolutely no chance against Akatsubaki in the arena, to run rings around her and shoot her without fear of return fire. My alterations to Akatsubaki's designs helped mitigate that glaring weakness, turning Akatsubaki into a real IS with its own specialties rather than a simple plot device to provide handy recharges to Byakushiki whenever Ichika wastes all its energy early in the battle, thus allowing Ichika and Houki to get closer, all according to Tabane's plan.**

 **Now that my treatment of Akatsubaki has been explained, it's time to move on to the conflict between the Organization and Phantom Task. When I first had the idea of the Organization, I wanted to create a force that, while it is good, will most certainly not always win, nor will they always be portrayed in a favorable light. People will die on both sides of the conflict, sometimes for stupid reasons. After all, while I neglected to mention it, the torpedo that blew up an over-capacity submarine escape pod could have been remotely disarmed, and OPV-008 was fated to die as soon as I decided to put it in, hence me not even bothering to name the officer that spoke with Ichika. Not to mention that the Organization sees absolutely no problem with wiping peoples' memories, blatantly illegal activities, and committing what would be considered war crimes (Engaging in combat while wearing enemy uniforms, for one). Meanwhile, not all people in Phantom Task are eugenicist Nazi wannabes. I tried to paint Hans as one, although I don't know if I succeeded, what with him being a good man doing a bad job because it's all he can do. Of course, Phantom Task is still a terrorist organization bent on world domination through terror, while the Organization is a force of people who desire to stop them by any means necessary, but, as always in real life, things are rarely black and white, rather, they are simply different shades of grey.**

 **Anyway, philosophy aside, I hope you've enjoyed the latest installment of Agent Orimura, and that you all continue to fav/follow/review! Ciao!**

 **EDIT: Reread this chapter after posting the next and noticed some glaring typos. They've been fixed now.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: My apologies for the delay. I could give an excuse about how I spent long hours editing this until it was perfect, but in reality, War Thunder's Update 1.43 came out and I have been playing a lot of it lately. To those of you readers affected by this delay, I would like to tell you that I'm sorry. In return, this chapter is a bit longer than usual, and contains much plot! Ohyes, very much plot indeed!**

 **Now that that's been said, I would like to say that all I know about radio communication prowords comes from Wikipedia, so if anyone more qualified than me spots a mistake, please alert me so that I can correct it. Also, this chapter refers to Agent Orimura: The Declassified Files (TDF) on multiple occasions. If you are confused by any acronyms or weapon designations that have not been mentioned in the fic proper, they should be defined in TDF.**

 **Chapter 14**

"Well, well, well... Looks like they're right on time!" A certain doctor exclaimed, her mechanical bunny-ears twitching as she did so.

"Are you sure this is the right course of action, Tabane-sama?" A second voice, this one younger, yet somehow sounding much older than the childish doctor's own.

"Right or not, it's too late to worry about it! Beam me up, Ku-chan!" Tabane replied.

"I am afraid, Tabane-sama, that true teleportation is still out of our grasp." Ku-chan, also known as Chloe Chronicle, replied, bemused.

"Aww..." Tabane pouted for a moment, but then perked up.

"Oh well! At least this means I get a front-row seat to the action!" The doctor cheered.

"Are you not at all concerned as to the outcome of this event?" Chloe asked.

"Of course not! Even after factoring some recently discovered variables, there is no way that this battle could end unfavorably for us! After all, Chi-chan will never lose!" Tabane replied.

"I see... So your calculations are based on faith?" Chloe asked as several silver pods exploded out of the ocean, arcing over the water on their path to shore. Tabane laughed in response.

"Faith has never been a factor when it comes to things like this." Tabane replied as she watched the eight Phantom Task IS suits approach the shore.

"Really? Then what will happen if Chifuyu loses?"

"Then Ikkun will come to rescue her! After all, in the event of her loss, she will be taken alive." As she spoke, Tabane's enhanced eyes zoomed in on the lead IS. It was painted a deep midnight blue, with silver embossing all over its wings and a long, black katana gripped in its right hand. In its left, it gripped a ranged weapon of some sort, likely plasma-based, judging from the design of the barrel. Its pilot was encased in an ornate suit of pilot armor, which covered much of her body but left her head and joints exposed. To most, it would have been considered beautiful, an excellent fusion of art and weapon. However, to Tabane...

"Hmm... I'm glad that one of my children isn't in that thing. That woman's sense of style is sooo outdated." Tabane commented as she inspected the other IS suits in the formation. Unlike their leader, these were all painted grey with a single red stripe running down through their pilot section. Where their leader's suit was sleek, predatory and elegant, these were hulking, boxy creations. In that manner at least, they bore a passing resemblance to the Infinite Arsenal.

"How do you know that?" Chloe asked, her voice still calm and dispassionate.

"It's one of the advantages of holding all the cards, Ku-chan!" Tabane replied as she sat back, content to watch the action take place.

* * *

The fear in Chifuyu's eyes lasted for barely a moment before it was replaced by grim determination.

"Maya, Shizune, once those pods land, I want you two to strafe the beaches." Chifuyu ordered as said pods arced down towards the beach, slamming hard into the sand moments later. With blood-curdling howls and shrieks, twisted monsters began to emerge from their transports, only for a hail of fire to meet them from above. Within moments, the beach was still again, rivulets of scarlet blood staining the white sand as it leaked out of the broken bodies of Dr. Meusel's monsters.

"All targets on the ground eliminated. We're rejoining you now." Maya reported as she ascended away from the bloody beach, Shizune Ayako, the assistant instructor of Class 1-2 following behind her. Down below, one of the many bodies that littered the beach blinked, before slowly crawling out from under its dead kin. No shrieking came from the mouth of Number 109 as it began to slowly, stealthily, make its way across the bloody sand, one eye glued to the sky in case the machines that had slaughtered its brethren chose that moment to return.

As luck would have it, no more fire raked the beach, and Number 109 soon made its way to the water, at which point it dove under, switching to its gills for breathing as it continued to crawl to safety, now hidden from the IS suits up above by the ocean waters.

Up above the lone survivor of the monster pack, the eight Phantom Task IS suits had just closed into firing range, and the first bolts of plasma were already speeding towards the Academy pilots, who avoided the long range shots, waiting all the while for the enemy to enter their own effective firing range. All too soon the distance was closed, with five of the enemy IS units choosing to close the distance, while the remaining three stayed back, blazing away with their own armaments and filling the air with a hail of plasma, railgun slugs and homing missiles.

"Form pairs! Do not engage the enemy alone!" Chifuyu ordered, seconds before Shizune was hit one too many times, her IS suit's shields flickering and failing, while a second plasma shot slammed into her Revive's right thruster, sending her spiraling to the ground.

"Damn..." Maya cursed as she linked up with Class 1-2's sole remaining instructor, Mizuki Akagi. Already the five remaining IS suits were nearly upon them, and Maya no longer needed her hyper-sensor to know that they were Golems rather than piloted IS suits.

"We'll target the one on the far right!" Maya pointed, and her partner nodded, drawing her Uchigane's sword in anticipation of combat. A black streak caused Maya to look away for a moment, and her eyes widened as she watched Chifuyu break formation, her own Uchigane on a direct intercept course with the enemy leader.

"Orimura-sensei? What are you doing?" Maya heard one of her fellow instructors cry out. There was no response.

"Damn it, looks like it's up to us to save her. Let's go!" Maya ordered, breaking formation and accelerating towards her designated target, her partner close behind her.

"Divide and conquer! Isolate your enemy and then destroy them!" One of the instructors behind her, likely Class 1-4's teacher, ordered as she too broke formation, but rather than head for the main enemy force, the two instructors of Class 1-4 climbed away from the fight.

"Here we go." Maya's partner said simply as she prepared to strike her target, only to peel away seconds later, just barely dodging the bright blue plume of plasma ejected from one of the Golem's arm mounted cannons.

"What the hell?" One of the other pilots called out, panic in her voice, but Maya didn't have time to worry about what was going on behind her, her focus being entirely on the plasma flamethrower equipped IS that was now engaged in a fierce duel with her own wingmate.

Dodging out of the way of a grey fist covered in crackling blue energy, courtesy of another Golem, Maya poured burst after burst of lead into the flamethrower Golem down below her.

"Maya! Behind you!" Mizuki's warning was the only thing that saved her from a plume of bright blue plasma from the second Golem that, even as he dodged, prepared for another swipe with its energy encased fist, four long blades now extended from its wrist, each one humming inaudibly as it vibrated.

"Mizuki! Switch!" Maya replied, falling under her opponent's fist while her partner rose up from below, landing a strike on the hostile IS suit's legs as Maya engaged the flamethrower IS below her, the red striped Golem turning to face her, both flamethrowers already spitting blue death at her. Flipping over the superheated stream, Maya fired a grenade, the projectile quickly being caught and detonated in a jet of fire. However, with one flamethrower diverted, Maya took the opportunity to fire a long burst from her rifle, the bullets all meeting their mark.

Maya had no time to revel in her small victory, however, as barely a second later another blast of blue fire nearly fried her, passing through where she had been mere moments before. All around her, the fight raged on, four Golems engaged in a furious melee against her fellow Instructors, while Chifuyu dueled the enemy leader up above. As the melee raged, the three Golems that had not charged with the rest were having problems of their own, as Class 1-4's instructors dove in on them, tying them up for the moment and preventing them from supporting their own allies.

Down below, on the already bloody beach, Shizune Ayako's IS burned.

* * *

As Maya and Mizuki fought a desperate battle against two Phantom Task Golems, Chifuyu had her own opponent to fight. Striking again and again, Chifuyu desperately tried to land a blow on the deep blue IS that danced around her with contemptuous ease.

"You have gotten soft since we last met, Chifuyu!" Reikou taunted as she parried the blows, her matte black Katana leaving a deep mark in Chifuyu's own mass produced blade whenever the two blades met. Chifuyu refused to dignify the woman with a response, and instead redoubled her efforts to get through her opponent's guard.

"How the mighty have fallen! You, who once laid me low with a single blow, now cannot even touch me! If I didn't see the potential you still had within you, I would be ashamed to call you my daughter." That certainly got a reaction from the younger Orimura.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance!" Chifuyu snarled back, quickly drawing and firing a pair of shots from her Uchigane's secondary pistol. Both shots hid a hexagonal shield that suddenly erupted from her opponent's arm, doing no damage.

"If you want me dead then fight! Or have you gotten so weak that you cannot even scratch your senile old mother?" Reikou taunted, blocking the next flurry of strikes.

"You lost the right to call yourself my mother the moment you tried to kill my infant brother!" Chifuyu raged, trying in vain to get through her opponent's guard. At the mention of Ichika, Reikou's mouth tightened, the smile that had been present on her face moments before vanishing in an instant. Chifuyu barely managed to block the incoming strike, the black blade biting deep into her own.

"You disappoint me, Orimura Chifuyu. I will have to discipline you once you return to the fold." Reikou replied, her voice ice cold. In response, Chifuyu laughed.

"Return? You honestly expect me to return?" Chifuyu laughed.

"Not at first, but I do expect that you will eventually see the light." Reikou replied. Chifuyu only laughed harder.

"Over my dead body." At that, Reikou sighed.

"I was hoping that resorting to such... Crude methods would be unnecessary, but apparently it is required." Removing one hand from her Katana, which was still locked with Chifuyu's own weapon, Reikou slowly drew the plasma carbine from where it resided on her hip. Then, she slowly pointed it downward. As blue light began to coalesce at the tip of its barrel, Chifuyu realized what her mother was planning. Swinging her blade down, she barely caught the plasma shot on the Katana's tip, melting and deforming the end of the blade. However, though it ruined her weapon, the move served its purpose, absorbing and dissipating the shot before it could slam into the defenseless buses below, where the few remaining Academy staff were desperately trying to prepare the students for evacuation.

"That was low, even for someone like you!" Chifuyu accused, assuming a position between her mother and the defenseless students below.

"Never sacrifice the height advantage in a fight!" Reikou scolded as she continued to fire, the plasma carbine's barrel glowing red as she attempted to hit her target. However, Chifuyu kept herself in the line of fire, deflecting what rounds she could with her sword, and absorbing the shots she couldn't with her IS suit's shields. The Uchigane's mass produced blade quickly warped and deformed from the heat, while her shields were dropping rapidly into the red zone, but still Chifuyu held firm.

"I will get through eventually, Chifuyu! Any deaths then will be on your head, not mine! After all, if you simply accept my offer and come home with me I will stop shooting and immediately order a retreat!" Reikou taunted as she continued firing.

"Over! My! Dead! Body!" Chifuyu ground out as she continued to absorb the fire, occasionally shooting back with her pistol as she did so. However, Chifuyu knew that her mother was right. Eventually, one of the shots would get through. Either her sword and shields would fail, or Reikou would get lucky and sneak a shot past her guard. However, the alternative was not an option either.

Salvation came from an unlikely source, as right when Chifuyu was steeling her conscience for the inevitable loss of innocent life, a large grey and red form slammed into Reikou from the side, followed close behind by a trio of well placed sniper rounds. One of those rounds must have hit its mark, as the Phantom Task Golem promptly exploded in a ball of blue-white fire. All that remained of the grey and red IS was a single, blackened leg spinning away into the distance. Striking while the iron was hot, Maya's Revive slammed into Reikou's IS in a perfect mid-air tackle.

"Leave my students alone you bitch!" Maya screamed as she drew her Revive's combat knife and began striking her opponent's shield. Her victory was short-lived, however, as Reikou quickly kicked her off, turning her full attention towards the green haired teacher.

That meant that Reikou was no longer paying attention to her daughter, and Chifuyu was quick to take advantage of the fact, attacking her mother from behind, her damaged sword still doing its duty as a club.

"Maya! Get back to the beach! The Golems are the real threat!" Chifuyu ordered. Maya looked at her as if she had gone mad, but decided that this was neither the time nor the place to argue and smoothly disengaged, heading back to assist her fellow teachers over the beach.

"How foolish of you to send away your ally away like that." Reikou chided as Chifuyu faced her.

"Once the Golems are gone, then we will all be able to attack you together. I can hold out long enough." Chifuyu replied.

"Do you want to bet?" Reikou asked.

"I've already staked my life on it." Chifuyu replied, and Reikou smiled.

"I see you still have the iron will I instilled in you... Now, let us see if you have the strength and skill to back it up!" With those words, Reikou struck, and with that blow, Chifuyu's blade finally gave out, Reikou's blow cleaving it in two.

"You have been disarmed, Chifuyu! Will you come quietly now?" Reikou asked.

"I still have my fists!" Chifuyu replied, and charged once more. The fight was far from over.

* * *

Tabane was far from the only party whose eyes were fixed on the battle raging over the beach. As plasma and lead screamed through the air up above, and frightened students were rushed onto buses for evacuation below, a pair of crimson eyes watched from afar.

"Excellent. Looks like the bait has engaged the enemy." Squall Meusel commented, drawing a raised eyebrow from Madoka, the black haired girl observing the battle through a partially deployed hyper-sensor beside her.

"You hear that M? Looks like dear old Reikou is nothing but bait today!" Autumn taunted from Squall's other side.

"Good. The old hag is finally of use." Madoka replied, causing Squall to raise her eyebrow in mild surprise.

"Oh? Are we getting a little rebellious there?" The blonde woman asked.

"Simply speaking the truth." Madoka replied, unfazed.

"Hmph. You Orimuras are all the same. Scheming, backstabbing, overengineered little nutcases the lot of you!" Autumn exclaimed.

"True on all counts, Autumn. Why hide what I am?" Madoka replied.

"That's a first. An Orimura admitting they have flaws." Squall commented, her eyes never leaving the aerial battle.

"Nobody is perfect. My mother taught me that all too well." Madoka responded.

"Really? Even your sister?" Squall asked, genuine curiosity seeping into her voice.

"Especially her." Madoka snarled.

"How so? Given how Reikou goes on and on about her, you would think the sun itself shines out of her ass!" Autumn asked.

"She's succumbed. She's the youngest Orimura to ever do so." Madoka replied simply.

"Really now? She didn't seem all that insane when she was accepting her second Mondo Grosso trophy. I thought that when you Orimuras went insane, you all turned into rabid animals that needed to be put down." Squall asked.

"Reikou fixed that problem in her generation. Now we just become raging psychopaths like Reikou up there." Madoka gestured towards the battle going on above them.

"You mean like you?" Autumn taunted once more.

"No. My modifications were minimal. I'm just a regular, natural psychopath." Madoka smiled coldly in response.

"I see." Squall replied simply.

"Say, Squall, what are we going to do when They arrive?" Autumn asked.

"Simple: We tail them, discover their base of operations, and relay its location back to HQ. We do that, and we spell the end of whatever clandestine organization is opposing us." Squall explained, not once ceasing her observation of the battle above. At that response, all three Phantom Task operatives in the clearing fell silent, their curiosity satisfied for the time being.

* * *

"Ichika! We've been flying over open ocean for over an hour now! Where are you leading us?" Laura demanded once again. The flight had been far from a silent one, as everyone save for Kanzashi had been asking the same question over and over again. Where were they going? What was going on? The answer to these questions was always the same.

"Everything will be explained in due time, perhaps when we are no longer being chased by terrorists." Ichika replied once again.

"That doesn't answer my question! Where are we going? If we were heading back to Japan we would have seen land by now!" Laura countered.

"Think about what you just said, Laura. Do you really think that leading forty-three hostile IS suits back to a hotel packed with defenseless students is the best course of action?" Ichika replied. Before Laura could formulate a response though, Cecilia's voice cut into the conversation.

"Ichika-san! There's another force dead ahead!" The blonde's panicked voice drew the attention of the entire group.

"Linking data now." Ori replied, and once again, Cecilia's hyper-sensor data appeared on his helmet HUD. The force was composed of nine visible IS suits, a large flying-wing that Ichika recognized as the Organization's IS Transport prototype, and the familiar silhouettes of twelve OXF-1 fighters.

"Don't worry, they're friendly." Ichika replied, which did not placate the girls around him in the least.

"How do you know that?" Laura challenged. Ichika did not respond, choosing instead to open communications with the incoming force. His helmet's speakers remained active this time around, allowing the pilots around him to finally listen in.

"TF-01, this is STS-01. We are at two-thirds strength and have six unaffiliated pilots with us, one of which is currently unable to fight. What are our orders, over?" Ichika asked, causing the other girls' questions to die in their throats.

"Copy that STS-01. Get your incapacitated pilot onboard the transport with a minder, then form up with us. Even factoring in the fighters, we're outnumbered almost two to one, so I have been authorized to request your assistance in this engagement, over." The orders were rapidly spoken, but Ichika understood them nonetheless.

"Copy that TF-01, Wilco." He replied, before turning to address his fellow IS Academy students.

"Kanzashi, you are to board the IS Transport midair. You will be returning to HQ with Natasha. Everyone else, form pairs and prepare for combat. Laura, form up with Charlotte. Cecilia, you are with Houki. Rin, you will be with me. Understood?" Ichika ordered. As per the usual, everyone except Kanzashi voiced their objections.

"Wait, what? Who the hell are you and what are you trying to do with me?" Natasha was the first to object.

"Ichika. I can understand involving me in combat, but everyone else? Out of all of us, I am likely the only one with any real military training! Are you really going to involve civilians in something like this?" Laura added her own objections to the list.

"Natasha, I am removing you from the combat zone, as you are in no way fit for combat. As for the issue of civilians, I am sure you all have read the IS Academy Charter. Do you all remember Special Article 13?" Ichika asked.

"Yes, but a formal request has not been filed!" Laura protested.

"True, but circumstances dictate otherwise. Now form up!" Ichika said as the Organization task force drew ever closer. As the vanguard of the formation approached, Kanzashi spoke up for the first time since Phantom Task had appeared.

"I guess this is goodbye. Stay safe out there." Kanzashi said, right before she separated from Ichika's formation and flew up to where the OXT-1 transport loomed overhead, its bay doors already open, and its cargo of trained IS pilots leaping out.

"You too, Kanzashi." Ichika replied as he led the remaining students in the opposite direction, linking up with the Second IS Wing that had just finished deploying their IS suits in midair.

"Nice weather we're having, eh Ichika-kun?" Yukari greeted as he formed up alongside her.

"I don't know, looks like a storm's on the horizon." Ichika replied. Up above them, the giant flying wing that transported the Second Wing into combat began to turn away, Kanzashi and Natasha safely onboard.

"Ichika-san, who is this?" Cecilia demanded. The girls around her nodded.

"You'll know that soon enough. For now, just refer to me as Commander." Yukari replied.

"Commander of what?" Laura asked.

"The Second IS Wing. Ichika, approximately what is our opponents' ETA?" Yukari asked in turn, changing the subject.

"Approximately ten minutes. They've had to fly pretty slowly in order to avoid leaving their Revives behind. What is our plan of attack?" Ichika replied.

"Good. Our current plan is for the fighters to make a single pass, targeting the enemy MPIS suits and hopefully eliminating them, and while the enemy is in disarray, dive in with our own forces. We have eighteen TIS suits with us, twenty-four if you count yourself and the student pilots. There are forty-three known enemy IS suits, twelve of which are Revives. If we can take those out, the odds will be much better, with only thirty-one enemies for us to fight. I expected more though... Didn't OPV-008 report a second wave of launches?" Yukari asked.

"They did, but 008 really did a number on the enemy submarine forces. The twenty or so IS suits that were launched in the second wave stayed back to rescue survivors from the two submarines that were successfully destroyed." Ichika replied.

"Wait a minute, are you crazy? Sending fighter jets against IS suits, even mass production units, is suicide!" Cecilia cut into the conversation. Yukari laughed in response.

"Ha! Don't let the pilots catch you saying that! These guys are trained for combat against IS suits, and have the equipment to match. Just watch, and you will see exactly what I'm talking about!" Yukari boasted.

"That reminds me, have they been networked?" Ichika asked, gesturing to the five Academy students that flew nervously around him.

"They have now." Yukari replied, and Ichika heard several gasps as the girls were entered into TF-01's battle network. As that occurred, the amount of comm chatter from the fighters ahead suddenly increased.

"Fighters are accelerating to attack speed. All flights are reporting target locks." Ori reported through the sudden increase in chatter.

"This is it." Ichika replied simply. There was no turning back now. The battle had begun.

"I guess this is really happening." Rin commented, her face showing only resignation at what was to come.

"Ichika, are we really going to do this?" Charlotte asked from where she flew at Laura's side.

"Looks like we are." Laura replied, her face set in a mask of grim determination.

"Laura, keep Charlotte covered. Houki, you are to do the same for Cecilia. Rin, stay close to me. Do not, repeat, do not under any circumstances engage an enemy alone. These people have more experience than any of us, and have TIS suits that are Second or Third Generation in terms of combat strength. I want no casualties, are we clear?" Ichika ordered, and the girls all nodded, a mix of fear and determination on their faces.

"Fox-One, Fox-One, Fox-One." The radio suddenly filled with comm chatter as missile after missile left its rack, the deadly warheads streaking towards their targets with inhuman precision. With his hyper-sensor zoomed in to the maximum, Ichika easily saw the missile trails converging on twelve separate targets, flying through a curtain of counterfire as the Phantom Task pilots tried their hardest to knock the deadly lances out of the sky. As Ichika looked on, several missiles were hit, either detonating prematurely or simply falling out of the sky, depending on where the lucky shot landed. However, for every missile that was destroyed, five others made it through, meeting their targets and exploding in bright blue bursts of energy. One Revive was hit by four warheads at once, the blue-white fire quickly overwhelming its shields and shattering its body. Ichika couldn't make out which of the charred and blackened pieces that fell out of the sky was once human, but he knew immediately that nothing could have survived the blast.

Throughout the Phantom Task formation that event repeated itself, as missile after missile met its mark. Of the twelve targeted Revives, only five remained after the first volley of missiles had done its work. However, the fighters had not yet done their worst to the enemy force, as more missiles streaked out from beneath their wings and fuselage, each fighter spreading its payload throughout the enemy formation. Enemy after enemy was hit, and the five remaining Revives fell out of the sky. Of the twelve downed enemy pilots, Ichika saw only two parachutes floating below the enemy formation. The Revives were far from the only targets of the second missile volley, but they were the only ones that went down. Of the missiles that slammed into the Golems, not a single one downed its mark, and not one warhead made it close enough to do any real damage to the hostile TIS forces.

Mere moments had passed between the second volley of missiles hitting their targets before the fighters had closed into cannon range, a river of blue fire pouring from the aircrafts' noses as the plasma cannons contained within opened fire, bathing their targets in a river of superheated death. They were not the only ones firing, however, as the Phantom Task forces returned fire with much greater precision than the fighters could ever dream of having, and as Ichika watched, several fighters flashed as their shields were overwhelmed. Two of those targeted fighters never pulled out of their dive, their burning airframes falling down, eventually splashing into the Pacific. One pilot managed to eject in time, while the other never had the chance, his plane's nose having been blown clean off. A third fighter went down to a Golem, exploding in midair as a particle beam punched clean through it. Finally, a fourth plane exploded as it slammed into the Golem it was pursuing, its pilot not pulling away in time. Neither Golem nor pilot made it out of that collision.

However, in spite of all the enemy's attempts to shoot them down, eight fighter craft managed to run the gauntlet of enemy fire, screaming through the Phantom Task formation and managing to claim two Golems in the process. Their job done, the Organization fighter craft leveled out and screamed away from the combat zone. However, Phantom Task did not pursue as Ichika had hoped. Instead, the enemy force continued on its heading, attempting to close the distance with their foes before the fighters could come around for another pass.

"Here they come!" Yukari called out, her OA-45 already spun up and ready to fire.

"Open fire!" Ichika ordered, taking aim and squeezing the trigger. Immediately, the multitude of gun barrels newly mounted into his IS suit's wings opened fire, sending a storm of plasma down at the hostile IS suits below them. Mixed in among this deadly hail was a swarm of knife missiles and explosive drones, the sheer volume of automated killers taxing Ori's control capability to the limit. Finally, precisely aimed railgun slugs flew at his chosen target, the hostile IS desperately weaving through the deadly storm that the Organization had created. On his left, Yukari blazed away as well, the loud buzz of her OA-45 rotary cannon almost completely drowning out the loud 'CRACK!' of her OA-124 carbine. On his right, Rin hesitantly opened fire with her own Impact Cannons. Too busy dodging to aim their return fire, the Phantom Task forces couldn't fight back at first, but as they closed the accuracy of their fire increased. One such shot slammed into the Infinite Arsenal, taking nearly 60 shield units with it, although the count started to slowly tick up again as the unit's shield regenerated. It was a grim reminder to Ichika, telling him that his ADS was disabled, and that this was indeed a fight to the death.

By the time they had finished closing, Phantom Task had lost its numerical advantage, with four of their less agile Golems having been shot out of the sky by the wall of fire that the Organization had put up. However, the most brutal part of the battle had only just begun, as Phantom Task's remaining pilots finally closed the gap, and the deadly aerial melee began. Beside him, Rin dove on one of the nearby Golems, her Soten Gagetsu in staff form, one of the weapon's edges glowing a bright pink as the subatomic edge was deployed. A single strike from the weapon was all it took, the brittle edge shattering into a shower of shield-piercing shrapnel that punched through the Golem's armor and into the artificial flesh beneath. The dead machine fell out of the sky as Rin activated the edge of her second blade, striking out at the closest enemy. However, her blade was easily parried, the brittle edge shattering early, causing its lethal shrapnel to dissipate early.

The TIS that blocked the blow gave Rin no time to recover as its pilot pressed the attack, the long scythe in its hands twirling as its wielder went on the offensive, Rin barely managing to fend off the older woman's offensive. An explosive drone to the back ended the woman's offensive, giving Rin a desperately needed opening. With Ichika pouring in fire from above and Rin landing blow after blow on her, the TIS' shields soon flashed and broke. However, that didn't seem to deter the Phantom Task pilot, who simply smiled and attacked again, driving Rin back once more. A scream from above drew Ichika's attention before he could move to support his partner. Looking up, he saw Cecilia desperately trying to fend off a four-armed TIS armed with two long scimitars. A loud explosion meant that she had fired all her missiles at point-blank range, a move that bought her barely a moment's pause. Searching around for Houki, Ichika saw her desperately trying to reach her partner, but the two Golems around her prevented her from doing so. Casting a quick glance down at Rin, who seemed to be just barely holding her own, he took aim at the enemy attacking Cecilia and fired a long burst from his railgun, before returning his attention to the battle below. He didn't see the first round shattering its target's shield, nor did he see the rest of them reduce the enemy IS suit's pilot to a scarlet pulp in her seat.

Barely noticing the TIS falling behind him, Ichika refocused his attention on his partner, only to be distracted once again by Ori's shouted warning. That warning allowed him to block the attack of the Golem that was coming in from behind him, its previous victim's blood splattered all over its armor. However, that victim had managed to inflict severe damage to the Golem's shields, meaning that a stream of plasma from Charlotte hitting it from behind quickly whittled down its shields, allowing Ichika to duck under its rotating blades and stab upwards with his plasma katar, the hot blade quickly melting through the Golem's armor and cooking the flesh beneath. His foe thus dealt with, Ichika looked down again, quickly finding Rin. The Chinese girl was alone now, her assailant nowhere in sight, but the Phantom Task pilot's fate was obvious thanks to the bright red stain on the Soten Gagetsu's blade. The bloody blade's wielder was not moving, and Ichika saw her face twisted in horror.

"Rin! Behind you!" That served to snap the girl out of her horrified state as another Golem dove in towards her. However, Yukari beat her to the punch, her customized Revive screaming in from above, thermal chainsword roaring as it met the Golem's shield, Rin's own strike landing a second later. The Golem tried desperately to disengage, but its efforts were in vain, as its shield broke and Yukari's weapon tore into its armor, at first releasing a spray of sparks and superheated metal, but that metal was soon joined by a gory fountain as the weapon's rotating blades met the soft flesh inside the shell. Satisfied that her opponent was dead, Yukari scanned her surroundings for her next opponent.

Up above, Houki had managed to eliminate one of the Golems assailing her, while the second was killed by stray fire from another nearby duel between two Organization pilots and a Phantom Task TIS. Taking aim at the TIS, Ichika fired off another burst of railgun slugs that distracted its pilot sufficiently to shift the duel in her opponents' favor. Forced on the defensive, it was only a matter of time before the pilot's time was up.

Scanning the area for his next target, Ichika watched as the tide of battle slowly but surely tipped in the favor of the Organization. While the two sides' numbers were equal when the melee started, it was clear that while they had equipment on par with that of their opponent, the Golems simply could not match a human in an IS suit in terms of skill. After all, they were ultimately animals, running off of pre-programmed instinct, allowing their opponents to easily outsmart them. They were slow to react, as Houki demonstrated as she sliced one in half with a strike that Ichika could have easily parried. They were stupid, as Charlotte and Laura demonstrated by catching one in an AIC field and eliminating it, despite their latest victim having watched another one of its brethren suffer the same fate. However, that did not mean that they were weak, as a pair of Golems demonstrated up above, one golem distracting their target while the second struck the pilot from behind, Ichika's warning serving only to allow the man to see the cause of his death.

Ichika's next target was decided for him as a TIS broke away from the melee going on just above him, diving in towards him. Firing as he dodged, Ichika beat a rapid retreat, knowing that his IS was poorly suited for close combat. However, his opponent was faster, and in spite of his maneuvering, she quickly caught up with him.

"To think that I would find the famous Orimura Ichika out here... It must be my lucky day!" The woman taunted as he desperately blocked and dodged her blows.

"I wouldn't say that. After all, less than half of your original forces remain. You once outnumbered us nearly two to one, and now the odds have turned against you." Ichika replied, gaining enough distance to snap off a quick burst.

"Most of our losses are Golems, and we can always make more." The woman replied offhandedly, ignoring the single hit Ichika had managed to score and pressing her attack.

"True, but you can't make them right this moment." Ichika replied, absorbing one blow and avoiding the rest, swapping out his long railgun for the more compact Ultramarine Storm as he did so.

"Heh, you're a smart kid. Of course, we'll see what those smarts are worth when I present your head to Reikou!" The woman replied, a manic grin on her face as she pressed her advantage, landing two more blows in rapid succession, absorbing a point-blank plasma volley as she did so.

"Reikou? I assume she is the mastermind behind this ambush? If so, then she really needs a lesson in tactics." Ichika replied.

"Ha! If only! No, Reikou has her own little mission today... Maybe I'll tell you before I kill you." The woman replied, a slice from one of her blades destroying Ichika's plasma rifle. However, that gave Ichika an opening, allowing him to rapidly close the distance and grab the hostile IS, pulling it so close that its blades were useless.

"Clever, but your planning needs work." The woman commented, a hidden pilebunker emerging from her wrist and slamming into Ichika's shields. A second blow from the weapon dropped Ichika's shields to the breaking point, but before the woman could finish the job, her head exploded, and Ichika felt the hypersonic round that did the deed crack past his own head. Looking around for his savior, he saw Laura turning away, a new target already in her sights. However, as Ichika took aim with his own gun, he realized that there were very few targets remaining. Only one Golem remained in the air, while the last four TIS suits staged a desperate last stand. Down below, the survivors that managed to eject from their fighters and IS suits fought their own battle, shooting at each other with pistols in the rare event that they could get close enough to identify friend or foe.

Finally, the reality of their situation seemed to dawn on the Phantom Task forces, and as one they attempted to disengage and flee, leaving their remaining Golem to cover their retreat. Two pilots managed to do so, gunning their impulse drives to the maximum as they attempted to escape. Two more TIS pilots failed to escape though, and fought to the bitter end against impossible odds. As for the two that managed to get away, they did not last long, as eight fighter suddenly dove on them from above, having climbed away while the IS pilots engaged in their melee. Spitting blue fire at the two beleaguered TIS suits, the fighters made pass after pass, losing another one of their number, but eventually the TIS suits' shields were worn down, and one at a time, the last two Phantom Task TIS suits fell out of the sky.

"Is... Is it over?" Charlotte's hesitant question broke through the post-battle silence.

"No. We still have survivors to rescue." Ichika replied, gesturing down towards the sea, where yellow rafts bobbed along the waves. Spotting one beneath him, Ichika dove towards it, only to hear gunshots as its occupant opened fire on him. The pistol rounds bounced uselessly off his shields as he came in for a closer look, and he marked the raft as hostile after spotting the Phantom Task pilot suit on its occupant. A few kilometers away, Charlotte was having better luck, the French girl pulling one of the downed fighter pilots out of the water.

A total of seven people were rescued this way, two of which were fighter pilots. As Ichika eventually flew back up emptyhanded, he looked over the Organization forces still in the air. Of the twelve fighters and eighteen Organization IS suits that had come to the rescue, seven fighters and nine IS suits remained. It was eerily quiet in the sky as the remaining Organization forces regrouped.

"Why..." Rin's voice was hollow, and as he looked over, Ichika saw that the girl's pilot suit was covered in blood, although whether it was from a Golem or an enemy pilot was not clear. Ichika was not given time to formulate a response, however, as Yukari spoke first.

"The five of you are to come with us immediately. The folks back at base want a word with you." The Japanese Wing Commander ordered. The girls just nodded at that, not even Laura protesting as the remaining Organization pilots surrounded them. Separated from his fellow students, Ichika flew up to Yukari, forming up alongside her.

"What is it, Ichika?" Yukari's voice was tired, lacking her usual exuberance.

"Has Phantom Task launched any other attacks lately?" Ichika asked.

"Yes, I believe that TF-02 was dispatched to take care of it." Yukari replied.

"Where was it? Because if one of the pilots I fought was correct, then a high ranking Phantom Task member might be involved." Ichika asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Yukari asked.

"Yes. Where did it happen?" Ichika asked.

"While you were away, a Phantom Task submarine attacked the beach where the rest of IS Academy's first-year students were staying. I don't know anything else though. All we can do is hope that TF-02 made it in time." Yukari replied softly.

* * *

The battle was going poorly. That much, Maya already knew. While she had managed to bring down the flamethrower armed Golem early on, and Mizuki had eventually taken down the claw-equipped Golem, but the situation was nonetheless grim. Both of Class 1-4's instructors had gone down over the ocean, their attempt at eliminating their targets having failed catastrophically. At that distance, Maya couldn't tell if they were alive or not. Class 1-3's assistant instructor had also gone down, having been killed by the Golem that Maya was now dueling. This particular Golem was armed with a pair of lightning casters, the deadly weapons firing medium ranged bolts of electricity that ate through shields and fried electronics with equal ease. To make matters worse, a pair of plasma blades had been installed under said lightning casters to form a pair of bayonets similar to the OA-23 Energy Katars that Ichika had on his own IS, only several times more powerful. It had been these bayonets that had taken out its previous opponent, and it was these weapons that even now tried to swat Maya out of the sky.

"Damn it TF-02! Where the hell are you?" Maya muttered. She was tired, both mentally and physically, while her opponent seemed immune to petty things like fatigue. As she weaved out of the way of one of the lightning caster's tracer beams, firing as she did so, Maya knew that she couldn't hold out for much longer.

Nearly a kilometer away, Chifuyu was having her own problems. Her Uchigane's pistol had long since been knocked away, and she knew better than to try and search for it mid-battle. Her sword was long broken, and her IS suit's shields had taken a beating. She was reduced to fighting with her suit's arms and legs, her left hand having been sliced clean off, while her right was a mangled mess. However, she was still fighting.

"Why do you continue to resist? You know that it is futile!" Reikou spoke from above her.

"Why not? I would take my own life before I surrender to you!" Chifuyu replied.

"The will is there, but the strength and skill is not. You take my patience with your childish games, Chifuyu." Reikou stated. Chifuyu opened her mouth to reply, only to suddenly spot something in the distance. As she looked on, several smaller objects detached from it, and sped towards Reikou.

"There is more to life than strength and skill!" Chifuyu shouted, surging forward and grabbing onto her mother, holding her IS still in the air.

"And what could that possibly be?" Reikou demanded, her face inches away from her daughter's own visage. In response, Chifuyu smiled.

"Cunning." With that word, the missiles met their mark. It felt as if she were in the center of a furnace, but Reikou's IS protected her from the majority of the blast. Even so, it was the most pain Chifuyu had ever felt in her life.

Moments after the missiles had struck, she let go and allowed the blast wave to carry her crippled Uchigane away from her mother, Reikou's own IS plummeting out of the sky. Dimly, Chifuyu noted that even her suit's wind shields had gone down, as the cold wind stung at her freshly burnt skin. Her Uchigane's last remaining thruster gave out as she approached the beach, and Chifuyu weakly braced for impact. Her crippled IS slammed into the sand moments later, sliding to a halt on its back, giving Chifuyu a front-row seat to what remained of the battle. However, as IS dueled Golem and fighters dumped ordinance into the ocean in their pursuit of a fleeing submarine, she let her eyes slide shut. The sun hurt, after all.

* * *

As Reikou fell out of the sky, her only thought was praise for her daughter. Chifuyu had been clever, to take advantage of circumstance in such a manner. Reckless, but clever nonetheless. Then, there was pain as her IS slammed into the ground, impacting so hard that Reikou was thrown out of her seat, coming down again moments later. Her head hit the ground, and then there was only darkness.

* * *

"They're here." Squall stated simply as the fighters screamed overhead, IS suits hot on their heels.

"They've already nailed Reikou... How long do you think the Golems will last?" Autumn asked.

"Minutes at most. If they couldn't take out instructors equipped with second-gen MP crap, then they most certainly can't stand against this." Squall replied.

"What do we do now?" Autumn asked.

"Once they're done playing with Reikou's golems, we are to follow them. If at any point they notice us, we are to disengage immediately. Information is useless unless we can deliver it safely." Squall replied, her IS, Golden Dawn, materializing around her, and Autumn deployed her Arachne moments later.

"What about Reikou?" Autumn asked, a hint of malice in her voice.

"Hmm... Well, M is using an MPIS, so she would only slow us down. Why don't we let her take care of it. Is that alright, M?" Squall asked. Madoka merely smiled in response.

"With pleasure." The black haired girl replied simply.

"Then get on with it." Squall ordered, and Madoka turned away, heading to where she saw her mother crash.

* * *

Reikou's eyes opened to the sound of footsteps.

"How the mighty have fallen... Pun intended." A familiar voice sounded out, and after a brief search for its source, Reikou's eyes came to rest on her younger daughter. She tried to move, but her legs would not respond, no matter how hard she tried. Her arms fared little better, only managing a slight twitch before they too gave out.

"What are you doing here Madoka?" Reikou rasped, her throat parched and burnt.

"That is a good question, Mother." Madoka replied, reaching into her coat and drawing out a gun.

"I thought I told you not to call me that." Reikou attempted to shout, but all it did was cause her to start coughing.

"You cannot change what you are... Mother." Madoka replied, relishing the rage that appeared in Reikou's sole remaining eye as she did so.

"Enough banter. What are you here for?" Reikou demanded. In response, Madoka activated the gun's laser sight, and the red point came to rest right between her mother's eyes.

"I see. You are here to kill me then." Reikou sighed.

"That is tempting... Myes, that is very tempting indeed..." Madoka spoke slowly.

"Then get it over with already!" Reikou rasped out, only to start coughing once again, causing pain to shoot through her body once more. In response, Madoka lowered the gun, and instead knelt by her mother. Her finger traced over one particularly large burn, the gentle trace soon becoming a painful scrape.

"You're hurt pretty badly." Madoka stated.

"Stop stating the obvious and get on with it!" Reikou rasped, causing Madoka to smile. Then, Madoka began to examine her mother's body, checking all over for injuries.

"Both your legs are broken, as is your spine. You are currently paralyzed from the waist down. One of your arms is broken as well, and your skin is rather badly burnt." Madoka replied once she finished her painful investigation.

"Tell me something I didn't know!" Reikou replied. In response, Madoka drew her gun once more.

"It is very tempting to just empty my magazine into your helpless body..." Madoka began.

"Then do it already! Make up your worthless mind!" Reikou hissed.

"... However, you are so badly injured that doing so would have no meaning. When I kill you, I want it to be in a manner that proves to you beyond all doubt that I am superior. Killing you know would be simple euthanasia... And if there is one thing you made sure to beat out of me, it was mercy." At that, Madoka smiled cruelly.

"Hmph. So you are just going to let me live after all." Reikou replied. In response, two gunshots rang out across the forest, startling what few animals that remained in the area after Reikou had crashed there.

"I will let you live, yes, but that does not mean I cannot have some fun first." Madoka smiled, stowing away her gun for the time being, while Reikou writhed in pain from the two new gunshot wounds in her broken arm. Then, Madoka picked up her injured mother and, with no particular care for her well being, began to drag her out of the forest.

"Know this, Mother. Your time is coming, but it is not yet your time to die."

Unknown to Madoka, the scent of blood had attracted another presence that now lurked in the forest, and that presence chose that moment to make itself known. With a soft growl, Number 109 made its presence known to the girl that callously dragged her mother through the forest.

Madoka expressed no fear when she turned to face the creature. She knew what it was, and even as the nine foot tall form of Number 109 strode out of the undergrowth towards her she did not flinch. Number 109 continued its advance, getting down on all fours and scuttling towards her. Reikou had long since passed out again, and was thus unaware of the monster that made its way towards her bleeding body.

Finally, Number 109 stopped, its face less than a foot away from Madoka's own. Leaning in, it sniffed her, and that was when Madoka acted. There were some advantages to doing all the dirty work under Squall. One of her jobs was to filter through messages, determining which ones were truly important and which ones weren't. Among the many messages that Squall received lay constant updates from Dr. Aaron Meusel, the scientist constantly boasting about his latest creation to his daughter. Madoka had read every one of those messages, and in one of them lay information about the monster that now stood before her.

Darting behind the creature's head, Madoka's hand came to rest on the back of the monster's cranium, her index finger quickly finding the tiny indentation in the back of the skull that was the key in controlling the beast. The small spine in that indentation punctured her finger, drawing blood, but Madoka simply smiled at the small pain. As soon as blood was drawn, the beast froze up. Several seconds passed as Dr. Meusel's engineering did its work, before the monster's face twisted into a sickening approximation of a grin. Madoka smiled in return. Number 109 was hers now. Patting the creature on the head, Madoka ordered it to follow her, but stay hidden. The creature simply nodded, and promptly disappeared into the surrounding foliage.

Madoka's smile widened. From what Dr. Meusel had said about it, Number 109 was unique in that its brain was particularly well developed. Out of all its brethren, it was the only one that could truly understand human speech. All others simply obeyed predefined commands, but when one spoke to Number 109, it listened, and it listened well.

Satisfied that her new pet was doing its duty, Madoka continued on her journey out of the forest, whistling tunelessly as she did so.

* * *

"Where are you taking us? What's going on?" Charlotte demanded as she was ushered through the metal halls of the hidden base. They had stowed away and surrendered their IS suits midflight, only to watch the pilot they had given them to fly away in an entirely different direction. They had been carried the rest of the way to the unassuming island, and an armed guard was waiting for them as soon as they arrived. Two men had taken Ichika away in one direction, while six more had surrounded her and the rest of the IS Academy students and had rapidly herded them through a labyrinth of tunnels. Charlotte could honestly say that this was the second most terrifying experience of her life, only surpassed by the battle they had participated in an hour earlier.

After what seemed like hours of navigating identical hallways, the group's journey finally came to an end in a small, unremarkable room. Within lay five chairs, and save for them, the only other feature present in the room was a second doorway opposite the one they came in through. Two guards took up positions around that door, while another two took up positions around the other. The last two guards stood against the wall opposite the chairs, faces impassive.

Exhausted both mentally and physically, Charlotte was grateful for the small comfort the chair provided, and quickly made herself comfortable. Laura sat beside her on the rightmost end of the row, while Houki sat in the center. Rin and Cecilia sat beyond her, and Charlotte gave the two girls a long, concerned look. Both girls were staring straight ahead, their eyes hollow. Charlotte didn't blame them. Given what they had just been through, she was more surprised that she wasn't doing the same.

"Combat Stress Reaction." Laura spoke up softly from beside her.

"What?" Charlotte asked, turning to the silver haired girl.

"They're suffering from CSR. Better known as Shell Shock. They'll likely need treatment soon." Laura replied, gesturing to where the two girls sat, hands shaking.

"What will happen if they don't get it?" Charlotte asked.

"Risk of PTSD, significant psychological trauma, and a plethora of other mental issues." Laura replied.

"Damn... What could have caused it? I mean, we fight in IS suits all the time!" Charlotte asked.

"Not like that..." Laura sighed before continuing, more to herself than to Charlotte. "Damn it Ichika, they were civilians! Why did you involve them in something like that?"

As Laura fell silent, Charlotte's mind was hard at work. Finally, she came to a decision. Working up the courage, she called out to one of the guards against the wall.

"Excuse me..." When one of the guards shifted his focus onto her, Charlotte continued.

"Is there anything you can do for them?" She asked, gesturing towards Cecilia and Rin.

"What is the problem?" The guard asked.

"I-I don't know... Laura said something about CSR, but... I just... The way they're staring, it isn't right! Please, just do something, anything!" Charlotte begged. The guards looked at each other, and one of them nodded. At that, the guard that spoke walked out of the room. Several minutes passed before he walked back in.

"Cecilia Alcott, Huang Lingyin, please follow me." The two girls stood up, and slowly made their way out of the room. The door shut behind them. Time slowed to a crawl once they left, the room remaining silent as the grave. After a while, the guard that led Cecilia and Rin out came back in. He was alone.

* * *

As the rest of the girls were being detained, Ichika had quickly found himself alone inside an individual debriefing room, also known as a more comfortable interrogation room.

"Are you aware of why you are here, Wing Commander Orimura?" An all too familiar voice asked. Evidently, he was speaking to the same man who recruited him.

"I am here due to my actions in the recent engagement with Phantom Task over the Pacific Ocean, where I deliberately forwent from keeping secrecy in order to assist TF-01 in the engagement." Ichika replied, his face impassive.

"What is your justification?" The voice asked simply.

"Would you like the full story or the condensed version?" Ichika asked.

"Take as much time as you need."

"Thank you." Ichika paused before he began to speak again.

"As you already know, I was dispatched alongside Sarashiki Kanzashi, Cecilia Alcott, Shinonono Houki, Huang Lingyin, Charlotte Dunois, and Laura Bodewig in order to engage the rogue IS known as the Silver Gospel. Before I had been dispatched, there had already been several close calls in regards to secrecy that forced the revealing of the AI designated Ori White. However, those were all taken care of." Ichika began.

"If I recall correctly, you sent a warning to the WSI tower that allowed them to shore up their cyberdefenses in time to resist a potentially devastating hacking attempt on the company's servers. All things considered, you handled that quite well." The voice cut in.

"That is correct. May I continue?"

"Go ahead."

"Thank you. Now, the interception of the Gospel was performed successfully, and after a short battle over the Pacific Ocean we were able to subdue the rogue IS. That was when secrecy was threatened. Three possible hostile contacts chose that moment to reveal themselves as Phantom Task submarines. At that point, the first potential breach in secrecy occurred when OPV-008 broke cover and opened fire on the enemy submersibles, scoring two confirmed kills before being sunk in turn."

"Are you now deflecting blame onto the now dead crew of OPV-008?" The voice interrupted once again.

"No, I am not. The crew of OPV-008 did what was expected of them and died in the line of duty. They bought me enough time to lead the students under my command out of any immediate danger. At that moment I had three obvious choices. First: I could return to the beach from where we launched. However, as that would mean leading a force of forty-three Phantom Task IS suits over a populated area, that was out of the question. Second: As the students under my command were capable of out-running the enemy force, we could theoretically have led them on a wild goose chase across the Pacific Ocean and eventually lost them. However, the choice was made for me when I was ordered to rendezvous with TF-01 at a set of provided co-ordinates. I was simply following orders when I led my fellow students towards our main task force."

"That is all well and good, but that does not explain why you conscripted civilians into joining the battle. The orders to join only applied to you and Miss Sarashiki, after all."

"TF-01 was composed of eighteen IS suits and twelve fighters. They were going up against forty-three hostile IS suits, eleven of which were TIS suits, and twenty more of which were probable TIS equivalents. Even with the Revives taken out of the equation, they still had nearly twice our number. Even with myself and the five people remaining under my command, our IS force took 50% casualties. Without our assistance, it could have been a lot worse. I therefore made the call to commit myself and the students under my command to the fight." Ichika finished.

"I see... I suppose your decision did save several lives on our side, but one question yet remains. How do we deal with the resulting breach of secrecy?" The voice asked.

"I would assume that you already have a solution prepared." Ichika replied.

"We have two possible solutions, in fact, and neither of them are particularly satisfactory. You must understand that this is not a problem that can be solved by a simple memory drug injection, or at least, not without causing a potentially lethal overdose. We cannot simply say that all five of them just fell asleep after beating the Gospel, that would be too convenient. They would ask questions, you understand? One way to avoid this is via an experimental treatment that would theoretically overwrite their memories with something more suitable, but this treatment is untested. It could lead to horrifying brain damage should it fail, and even if it succeeds, we have no evidence that it would stick. That is one possible solution." The voice explained.

"And the other?" Ichika asked, dreading the response.

"You will return with Miss Sarashiki, the sole survivors of a Phantom Task ambush. These five students will be detained, if not eliminated entirely." Ichika's eyes narrowed at that.

"So you are willing to effectively kill five teenage girls in order to maintain secrecy?" Ichika demanded.

"If it comes down to it, we will. However, you know these particular students very well. Do you have any... Alternative solutions to propose?"

For a long moment, Ichika was silent, his mind working hard to try and figure our some way to save his friends. Then, slowly, a plan began to form in his head.

"Well? Have you a solution? Our time is limited." Banishing the wave of self-loathing for what he was about to say, Ichika began to outline his idea.

"I propose induction."

"Only three of the students can be successfully inducted into our organization. Miss Bodewig's loyalties lie firmly with her home country, while Miss Shinonono's older sister is too much of a security risk. In addition, these five girls are an all-or-nothing deal. If one refuses, they all will."

"Not necessarily. I propose we approach them individually. Separate them and then recruit them alone. Cecilia can likely be brought in by mentioning her late father and his affiliation with us, while Charlotte can likely join after a careful explanation of how we saved her from her father. Rin and Houki can then be brought in by capitalizing on their relationship with me. That leaves Laura as the odd one out."

"Do you have a way of bringing her in as well?" The voice asked.

"No. As you said, her loyalties lie firmly with the German military. However, she does not have to know that her fellow pilots joined. When all the pilots have been interviewed, have them all meet up again. All of them will then say that they rejected our offer, regardless of the truth in that statement." Ichika replied.

"That would work for the moment, but Laura would soon notice how all her fellow pilots are making regular trips to WSI Tower, which she likely suspects is associated with us."

"That is why we will include her in those trips. All five girls will receive an offer from WSI, and all five will accept. When a mission comes up, all five will be given a 'choice' as to whether or not they will participate. Only, in Laura's case, that choice will be genuine, and if I know her, she will accept if everyone else does. Does that sound satisfactory?" Ichika asked.

"So make her a member in all but name... Clever. However, this does not address the problem of Miss Shinonono's older sister."

"I do not see it as a problem. Instead, this will give us a second member that is close to Doctor Tabane, and possibly give us a way to feed false information to her. She is already suspicious, and the best way to eliminate suspicion is to make her come to a false conclusion."

"I see. I believe we shall attempt this method before defaulting to one of the alternatives. You may leave now, Wing Commander Orimura... That is, unless you have any other suggestions to make."

"No sir." Ichika replied simply, standing up and turning to the door.

"It has been a pleasure speaking with you." Ichika ignored the voice's farewell as he left the room. He was too busy trying to desperately assure himself that he had done the right thing.

* * *

Laura's name was called first, the silver haired girl being ushered out of her seat and out of the room. Eventually, the guards that led her out returned, but she herself did not. Then, it was Charlotte's turn, and at the mention of her name the dull fear that gnawed at her turned into raw panic.

"W-Where are you taking me?" Charlotte tried to sound strong, but all that came out was a feeble plea. Neither guard responded, only gesturing once again for her to come with them.

With one guard in front and another behind, Charlotte was once again led through a labyrinth of corridors, soon coming to a stop before a nondescript door, one of the guards quickly opening it, gesturing for her to enter. Timidly, Charlotte did as she was asked.

The room itself was small and dark, lit only by the glow of a large screen. The door shut behind her, and Charlotte clearly heard the lock click.

"Hello, Miss Dunois." An unfamiliar voice, clearly modulated, broke the silence.

"W-Who are you? What is going on? Where am I?" The questions poured out one after another as what was left of Charlotte's composure began to break.

"Who I am is currently unimportant. You are currently in our organization's headquarters, and I am here to extend you an offer." The man replied.

"And just what is that offer?" Charlotte demanded.

"I am sure you can guess, but nonetheless I will explain. You see, Wing Commander Orimura has managed to pull some strings in your favor just now, and we have decided to give you an opportunity to join our organization as a full member."

"And what, if I may ask, would have happened to us if it weren't for Ichika-san's intervention?" Charlotte demanded.

"I believe that is better left unsaid. Now, what is your response?"

"No! I know for sure that Laura would have refused you, and I would rather join her in whatever cell you dumped her in instead of joining you!" Charlotte declared.

"Not even after all we've done for you?"

"What have you people ever done..." Charlotte trailed off as she realized what the voice was implying.

"Aero Infini... My father... You were Ichika's contacts, weren't you?" Charlotte's voice trembled at that realization.

"Correct. Aero Infini is our WSI equivalent in France. We have been assessing you for recruitment for some time now, Miss Dunois. This incident has simply forced us to accelerate our timetable."

"So Ichika's friendship was all just one big act?" Horror now laced Charlotte's voice.

"Of course not. There are much more efficient ways of gathering information than faking friendships. We simply believed that having a friendly face once you joined would help make your induction smoother. I see that this particular method leads to possible feelings of betrayal present in the recruit... We will have to revise this in the future." The voice commented.

"Whether Ichika is or isn't really my friend is immaterial. I still know that Laura refused you, and my earlier point still stands!" Charlotte replied. In response, the screen lit up, showing an image of Laura, Rin and Cecilia together in a separate room.

"You are correct in that Laura has refused our offer. Her loyalty to the German military is indeed commendable. However, she has also seen the necessity of keeping this organization hidden from the public, and thus will be released from custody alongside you. However, that is ultimately immaterial. What matters now is if you will join us or not. Will you join Ichika in defending the world from organizations like Phantom Task? Or will you refuse our generous offer like Laura?"

After a few moments passed, Charlotte sighed.

"Just what is Phantom Task?" She asked.

"A secret terrorist organization of a scale comparable to our own. Much like us, they possess the ability to manufacture IS cores, and possess a significant underwater navy. At the moment, we are the largest threat to their as-of-yet unknown agenda, and thus they have devoted a significant portion of their assets to eliminating us. I will not lie, Miss Dunois. If you are to join us, you may have to fight again. You may even have to kill again." At that, Charlotte shuddered, repressing the urge to vomit. The sight of the woman she had killed tumbling out of the sky, a hole burnt clean through her chest, was still fresh in her mind.

"However, you will be serving a noble cause. As a member of our organization, you will be part of the thin, grey line that keeps the light of the civilized world safe from those who would extinguish it. From terrorist plots to global conspiracies, you will be one of the brave few that keeps our world safe. The choice of whether or not to join us lies before you. I trust you will make the right decision."

It felt as if time itself stood still for the long moment that it took Charlotte to decide.

"I... I am in. What do I do now?" She asked.

"Good. You will receive more information upon your subsequent visit to WSI tower. However... Your first order is less than a pleasant one." The fear returned in force at that.

"What is it?" Charlotte asked, her voice trembling.

"Laura Bodewig has agreed to keep our secret under the assumption that both you and all your fellow students would have rejected our organization's offer. Both Recruits Alcott and Huang have told her that they have not accepted our offer. In the interests of maintaining secrecy and keeping your friend safe, you are to tell her the same."

"W-What?!" Charlotte exclaimed at that.

"It is unpleasant, but it is also necessary. So long as Laura keeps our secret, we will not have to do anything unpleasant to her in order to keep her compliant." At that, Charlotte nodded, hesitantly.

"What about Houki?" She asked.

"Miss Shinonono has just accepted our offer as well. All five of you will be given an offer from WSI in the coming days, and all five of you will accept. In Laura's case, we will be removing the tracers implanted in her machine by Dr. Tabane, and once we obtain approval from her superiors, we shall begin modifying her machine on a wider scale. As for the rest of you, modifications have already begun. Your IS suits will be updated to Organization minimal standard by the end of the day, and will be brought further up to date in the coming weeks. Now, unless you have anything else to say, you are dismissed." That was Charlotte's cue to stand up and leave. The two guards were waiting for her, and they quickly led her to another room. Inside, her fellow Academy students waited for her.

"Charlotte!" Laura exclaimed as she entered, running over to embrace her, tears of joy streaming from her sole uncovered eye. Returning the embrace wholeheartedly, Charlotte cried tears of her own, although not all of them were happy.

"Well? What did they offer you? What did you say?" Laura asked hesitantly.

Feeling sick to her stomach, Charlotte opened her mouth and lied to her best friend's face, her heart twisting as Laura smiled at her response.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's a wrap! Character development, plot development, and action galore, this chapter has everything you could possibly want! I eventually decided to split this chapter into two sections, as I believe the aftermath of all that just happened would take way too long to describe in this one. Now, as this particular chapter effectively finishes the Season 1 timeline, I would like to talk about my plans for the future of this story.**

 **As usual, I hope you all enjoyed this particular story, and how I've chosen to depict some of the characters, Dr. Tabane for example. While I do believe that she is far from a good person, I don't want to turn her into a Moustache-twirling Saturday morning cartoon villain, or possibly a deranged maniac that only does stuff FOR TEH EVULZ, although both archetypes could certainly be adapted to fit her. Then again, I don't want to make her seem 'Misunderstood' and good all along! After all, she DID shoot an armageddon's worth of nukes at Japan as part of a publicity stunt.**

 **Next comes Natasha Fairs. Honestly, she has so little screentime and characterization that I don't really know what to do with her. All we know about her person in canon is that she's blonde, well endowed, and kisses Ichika, before disappearing off the map entirely. I have a few plans, but they're still in the early stages of formation so I might just wing it if I can't think of anything good in time.**

 **The Original Five (AKA Ichika's canon harem in the first season) are next on the list. Two of them have already gotten their first kill, and one other has seen Ichika kill someone rather messily directly in front of her. While I'm not planning on refocusing the fic to suddenly fixate on their emotional struggles, I don't want to gloss over it entirely and make it as if the event had never happened. This means reading up on my psychology, a subject where I have no experience in whatsoever save for what little I've read on Wikipedia. Man, writing fanfiction is a learning experience!**

 **Laura in particular poses quite the issue in the coming chapters, as she is the only member of the Original 5 to reject the Organization's offer, and yet she believes that all her friends have done the same. I wonder, how long will it be before the secret gets out, and what will she do then? Her relationship with Ichika is already quite fragile, and the revelation could cause all sorts of issues down the road...**

 **The issue of Laura leads into the topic of the Organization. When I first imagined it, I wanted to make something that is clearly morally ambiguous, believing that the end justifies the means. One that, if it was revealed and its secrets were brought to light, would certainly draw international reprisal. In short, instead of creating Your Friendly Neighborhood Agency, I wanted something akin to NERV, complete with secret conspiracies and goals. Have I succeeded? Maybe. I may have laid the grey on a little too thick there at the end, but for now it shall suffice.**

 **Then of course there is Phantom Task. Right now it is pretty much your typical evil organization bent on world domination, full of schemers, rogues, killers, and all sorts of other nasty riff-raff for the Heroes to cut through! They even have the faceless redshirt corps down pat, as Golems aren't people, no sir-ee! Of course, I plan to possibly change that, but at the end of the day, they're the most obvious villains of this work.**

 **Speaking of Phantom Task, I plan to expand Madoka and Reikou's roles in the coming chapters. I have decided to go with the Orimura Family Insanity trope that has been making round in the fandom, but hopefully I will take it in a different direction than the rest. Now that Reikou is a one-armed paraplegic, it's time to start plotting her fate. After all, giving her the Tin Man treatment and slowly cutting off bit after bit of her until all that remains is a brain in one of Dr. Meusel's jars isn't something I want to do. After all, as Reikou would say: "Either kill me or don't, make up your worthless mind!" i am not planning on redeeming her by any means, but I am still unsure as to whether she should be killed, and if so, who should kill her? Right now, I am in favor of Madoka doing the deed, if she chooses to do so. After all, she has the biggest bone to pick with her out of all her family. Madoka is a very interesting character to write, what with her being a stone cold psychopath with a pet abomination at her beck and call!**

 **Speaking of Madoka, I would like to reward those of you who read the Author's Notes (Or cheated and skipped them), and write up this little scene! It's not really an Omake as it's perfectly canon, but still, I would like to end this chapter on a slightly more humorous note! Enjoy!**

* * *

The sun had set completely by the time Squall and Autumn returned from their journey.

"Well? What did you find?" Madoka asked from where she stood, her mother's body, limp but still alive resting beside her.

"We've narrowed down the location considerably. They're likely based either in the Kuril islands or on the Kamchatka peninsula itself. Eastern China and Russia are also possible, but less likely." Squall replied as she landed.

"Couldn't you have narrowed it down any further?" Madoka demanded.

"Hmph! Like you could have done any better!" Autumn replied.

"Unfortunately, we were fired upon by a fishing vessel as we passed over the Sea of Okhotsk. We chose to make ourselves scarce before we drew any more unnecessary attention. My superiors will be satisfied." Squall replied, coming down to land. A flash of golden light later, and her IS was gone.

"I see you've recovered your mother..." Squall walked over, plucking a stick from a nearby tree. Reikou twitched slightly as the blonde cell commander poked her.

"She's still alive? That is... unexpected." She commented as Madoka smiled.

"I still have a use for her. Besides, I was never one for euthanasia." The black haired girl replied.

"Whatever. I couldn't care less about your mommy issues. Let's just get back to base. A warm bath sounds really good right about now!" Autumn replied, stretching. As she did so, Madoka snapped her fingers. At that signal, a giant form emerged from the nearby foliage, purring as Madoka scratched it behind the ears.

"What the hell is that thing?" Autumn exclaimed, and even Squall, who already knew of it, shuddered slightly.

"I don't know, but it followed me home! Can I keep it?" Madoka asked, smiling in a manner that, had her clothing not been stained with her mother's blood, could have been considered cute.

* * *

 **Now that that's done, I hope you all enjoyed the story so far! Until next time!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Ugh, still somewhat unsatisfied with the opening scene here. It was like writing Kanzashi's emotional scenes multiplied five-fold and thrown in a blender to give it that unique, difficult-to-write zing. I would have preferred to handle each girl one by one, and I ended up doing so with Houki for a scene that, in my opinion, was much better than the previous one. Nevertheless, I tried several different approaches for handling them all at once, but ultimately I just decided to sit down and write as good a scene as I could and leave it at that. If it turns out to be particularly horrible, I might just end up rewriting it, but if not I'll just move on to bigger scenes. It sure didn't help that due to other obligations it ended up a rather piecemeal affair.**

* * *

The WSI Tower Cafe was nothing extraordinary. Being a simple cafeteria with average cuisine at best and plain white walls, the only notable thing about it was the view of Tokyo through the large window that took up one of the large room's walls. During the day, it was often occupied by at least one office worker or janitor, but at the moment the room, and indeed, the entire tower, was mostly deserted. The room's only occupants were seven IS Trainees, who sat around a circular table near the window, gazing out at the bright lights of Tokyo that completely drowned out the stars above.

The seven students were eating a somewhat belated dinner, and were hungry enough to not care what they ate, so long as it was filling. It was Laura who first broke the silence.

"Ichika, I believe that you owe us all an explanation." The silver haired girl said, looking up from her half-finished meal.

"I agree. Whatever you have involved us in, I believe we all deserve a full explanation." Cecilia agreed. Beside her, Rin nodded her assent, a motion mirrored by Charlotte and Houki.

"You want the short or the long version?" Ichika asked in response.

"Short will do for now, we will ask for clarification later." Laura replied. Nodding in response, Ichika began his explanation.

"As you may have guessed, I am a part of a secret paramilitary organization based on Urup island. Said organization's purpose is twofold. Its primary objective is to combat terrorist groups such as Phantom Task, while its secondary objective is the prevention of true armed conflict between nations, although at the moment most of our resources are being devoted to the battle against Phantom Task." Ichika explained.

"How long have you been a part of this organization?" Laura asked before he could continue.

"I was recruited when I was ten years old, immediately after one of the Organization's strike teams destroyed a Phantom Task base on the Kamchatka peninsula, where I was being held prisoner." That information caused Rin to gasp.

"You mean-"

"Yes. I was a member ever since I returned from the kidnapping." Ichika preempted her.

"Kidnapping?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes. When I was ten years old, I was kidnapped by Phantom Task operatives, although their purpose in doing so is still unknown. I suspect that they may have intended to use me as bait to draw out my older sister, whom they would in turn capture, but that is just speculation on my part. What's important is that after the base was cleared of hostiles, I was rescued and taken to the then-under-construction headquarters for recruitment." Ichika explained, prompting another remark from Laura.

"So your organization isn't above using child soldiers, is it?" Several options presented themselves to Ichika, including calling her out on her hypocrisy, but he ultimately chose a different response.

"No. When I was recruited I was specifically told that I would not be transferred into the combat division until I was old enough to legally make that decision. Instead, I went into engineering." Ichika replied.

"Then why the hell are you the commander of an IS wing if you're not part of your group's armed forces?" Laura demanded.

"STS-01 is different. Its purpose is to recruit potential trainees from IS Academy and test Organization technology against the equipment of the rest of the world. The battle earlier today was-" Laura interrupted him.

"Was what? I heard you when you made the call to commit us!"

"I know! Had refusing not meant that I would effectively leave the entirety of TF-01 to die then I would have taken you out of combat in a heartbeat! You saw the casualties we took even with our assistance! Just think of what could have happened had we left them behind!" Ichika replied, his tone hard. When Laura did not respond, he went back to his explanation.

"The only reason I am part of the IS corps is because I ended up accidentally activating an IS and displaying a high A-grade compatibility rating made me essential to a department that was sorely lacking in manpower. Once there, I was eventually given command of a one-man training wing, a group that has only recently grown in number thanks to the recruitment of both Sarashiki Tatnashi and Kanzashi." Ichika finished, before looking around for the next question.

"That is all well and good, but what are we all doing here?" Houki spoke next.

"At the moment, we are simply removing the newly discovered backdoor in your IS Core Control System, which will prevent any of your IS suits from going berserk in a manner similar to the Silver Gospel. That is all that will be done today, but-" It was Rin who cut him off this time around.

"Wait a minute, are you saying that there is a secret backdoor in the IS Core Cyberdefense systems?" The Chinese girl demanded.

"Yes. Preliminary checks done by Ori during the Gospel incident have revealed the existence of three such backdoors, which allow someone who knows of the cores' intricacies, someone like Dr. Tabane, to access and assume direct control of any IS that mounts one of the 468 cores." Ichika replied.

"Don't you mean 467 cores?" Houki asked.

"No. Your Akatsubaki contains core number 468, which is specifically tailored towards you. I doubt anyone other than you or Dr. Tabane is capable of activating it." That information caused Houki's eyes to widen.

"Wait, but that means... Does that mean that my sister can hijack my IS at any time?" Her voice was tinged with horror as she spoke.

"As far as we know, yes. Later on all of your IS suits will be completely re-cored with White-Pattern IS Cores, but that will not happen today." That drew gasps from all around the table.

"What are you talking about? Don't tell me that you are actually planning on swapping out our IS cores!" Laura exclaimed.

"That is exactly what we plan on doing. If we could, we would re-core all of the world's IS suits in order to prevent potential hijacking of most of the world's military equipment by Dr. Tabane, but doing so is simply beyond our capabilities at the moment."

"You... Can Dr. Tabane really do that?" Now it was Laura's voice that was horrified.

"With one AI at her beck and call she was able to launch half the world's nuclear weapons at Japan during the White Knight incident. She now has over four hundred AIs at her disposal, and all of them have already been inserted into the world's arsenals. With a single command she could hold the entire world ransom." Ichika replied gravely.

"I... I have to report this to my superiors! Immediately!" Laura exclaimed, jumping up from the table only to be caught by Kanzashi.

"Let me go! I don't care about your organization's anal-retentive need for secrecy! This is vital information! It-"

"It has already been leaked to damn near every source of military intelligence we can access. However, the only-" Laura cut the blue haired girl off.

"I don't care how much evidence you've planted! This data needs to get through now!" Laura said as she managed to shake off one of Kanzashi's arms. That was when Ori's avatar shimmered into existence in front of her.

"Tell me the message you need to send. I can get it through to the Minister of Defense along with any data needed to validate your claims without unacceptable risk of secrecy. Just tell me the message you need to send and I will record it before passing it on." Ori suggested, causing Laura to pause.

"How do I know it will go through?" Laura asked, suspicious but hopeful.

"I can only give my word. However, blocking this message gains us nothing, while allowing it to go through will allow for preventative measures to be taken in regards to the world's IS forces. Should the rest of you wish, I can send similar messages to your home nations as well." Ori suggested. Several moments passed, before Laura sighed and nodded.

Her message was short and to the point, outlining the circumstances of the Gospel incident and the very real possibility of Tabane hijacking the world's militaries. It was sent immediately afterward, and Ori turned to the rest of the girls present. One by one, they followed Laura's example. Finally, only Houki was left.

"Houki, it's your turn now." Ori prompted.

"M-My turn? I thought that Ichika was going to send the message to the Japanese government!" Houki exclaimed.

"Normally that would be the case, but think of what the message contains. If I were to send it, then the government could take action and attempt to control your sister through you. However, if you were to prove yourself a loyal citizen and send the message yourself..." Ichika trailed off as Houki frowned.

"I know that, but..." Houki took a deep breath before continuing.

"It's just that this doesn't feel right! It feels like I'm betraying my sister! I know that the two of us have never seen eye to eye on things like this, but it just seems too awful to be true!" The long haired girl sighed, poking idly at her half-finished meal.

"Listen Houki, I sincerely doubt that your sister is planning to take over the world. However, it was only through an incredible stroke of luck that nobody was killed during the Gospel incident! What if something like that were to happen again? We-" Houki cut Ichika off mid-sentence.

"No! I know she isn't planning on taking over the world! I've literally known her since I was born, and she was never one for nefarious plots and complex schemes! We both know that, Ichika! If that was the case, I would have been the first to volunteer to send the message! However..." Houki trailed off.

"What is it?" Charlotte asked, ever the mediator of the group.

"My sister isn't evil, I know that more than anyone else in this room. However... Ichika, do you remember what she was like back before Chi- Orimura-sensei befriended her?" Ichika nodded, and Houki continued.

"Back then, I was literally the only person she considered a fellow human being. Everyone else, even my parents, she just wouldn't register as people! Supposedly, she mellowed out after she met your sister, but still..." Houki shuddered slightly as a particularly unpleasant memory rose to her mind. Swallowing, the black haired girl continued, much more quietly.

"Ichika, I'm scared... No, I'm terrified that her supposed mellowing out was all one big act to make you and Orimura-sensei happy." Her voice was a hollow whisper by the time she finished speaking.

"That's not true!" Ichika denied, but even he could sense the emptiness of that statement as his mind raced. The White Knight and Gospel incidents, the occasional visits from the eccentric doctor... The accidents that occurred in China and America.

"Don't lie to me, Ichika! I can see you thinking! Just what do you know about my sister?" Houki demanded.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Ichika asked. When Houki nodded, he sighed, and began to explain.

"Did you know that the Organization was not the first group to duplicate an IS Core?" Ichika asked, once again drawing the attention of the entire room.

"What?" Five voices rang out together as that particular piece of information was revealed.

"Yes. In fact, the Chinese had managed to create a fully functional IS Core barely three years after the White Knight incident. During the initial activation test, the Tabane-built core they were using as a template hacked into the prototype core and caused it to detonate. The facility, and all the personnel within, were lost moments later, the only object remaining in the crater being the Tabane-pattern IS core. Only one recording of the events within exists, and the Organization has it. Three years later, the Americans attempted to do the same and, in the wake of the Phantom Task raid on Pearl Harbor, attempted to activate their own IS core. They took every precaution in making sure their core wouldn't explode. Of course, all the failsafes they built in were useless against the other core's AI. This particular accident was much more publicly documented. The investigation that followed the accident concluded that miniscule breach in the core's dimensional reaction chamber resulted in about five milligrams of antimatter leaking into the real world, resulting in an explosion equivalent to approximately two hundred tons of TNT. After this leak, the core itself engaged its shift system and was fortunately removed from this dimension before any more antimatter could leak into the world." Ichika explained to his now ashen-faced fellow students.

"You all know the rest. In light of these accidents, the rest of the world is now too afraid to conduct research on the IS core's inner workings." Ichika finished. Once again, it was Laura who replied first.

"Then how can both your organization and Phantom Task manufacture their own IS cores?"

"For us, we managed to obtain an IS core, and promptly placed it into total isolation while we studied it. As for them, we simply don't know for sure, although we have a few ideas." Ichika replied. The cafeteria was silent once again, before Houki spoke up once more.

"Alright. I'll send the message." With those, Houki turned to Ori and spoke, her own message being quickly recorded.

"Alright. Is that all?" Ori asked. When the IS Academy students nodded, the AI smiled and sent the messages to their respective recipients. However, before the conversation could resume, the door on one side of the cafeteria opened and a technician walked in.

"Commander Orimura, Miss Shinonono, your presence is requested. There has been a... complication in regards to disabling Akatsubaki's backdoor." The technician reported, gesturing for the two named individuals to follow him. Standing, Ichika gestured for Houki to do the same, and the two of them left the room.

"Let me guess. Does this complication involve Akatsubaki's core AI?" Ichika asked as the trio walked to where the girls' IS suits were being held.

"Yes. It's taking three AIs working in concert to prevent it from sending a distress message to Dr. Tabane. Even in that state, it is currently impossible for us to perform the necessary modifications. However, until said modifications are completed, we are not authorized to allow Miss Shinonono to leave the tower." The man replied.

"I see. Are you hoping that Houki can somehow talk Aki into standing down?" Ichika asked.

"Something along those lines, yes." The technician replied as they entered the tower's main engineering bay. On a table near the center of the room lay five stowed IS suits, the Gospel among their number, while Akatsubaki stood fully deployed a short distance away. In front of the crimson IS floated Aki's avatar, three other avatars surrounding it. All four holograms stood still, and appeared to be doing nothing to each other, but Ichika knew that a full scale war was being fought in the room's cyberspace.

"Houki-sama!" As soon as Aki noticed her mistress' entrance, her hologram moved, appearing with a shimmer and wrapping its small arms around Houki's neck, virtual tears streaming down its holographic face. Behind it, the other three AIs shimmered as well, mopping their brows.

"I-I thought th-that they had k-killed you! I... I thought..." Aki sniffed, before finally noticing Ichika's presence.

"You! You have a lot of explaining to do!" Aki demanded, her eyes narrowing and her hologram shifting to an angry red.

"I have already explained myself to Houki. Your detainment here was necessary due to the security risk you posed." Ichika replied, and Aki's hologram blurred briefly in response.

"What security risk? I-" Ichika cut the protesting AI off mid-speech.

"You attempted to send off a message to Dr. Tabane, thus risking a repeat of the Gospel incident and endangering the lives of everyone in and around this building. Do you understand?"

"What are you talking about? The Silver Gospel-"

"Went berserk after an individual strongly suspected to be Dr. Tabane accessed its controlling AI and initiated an ACE, before forcing the subverted IS to go on a rampage across the Pacific Ocean. During the battle, Ori managed to very briefly make contact with the Gospel's AI Core, and a further investigation of the Gospel confirmed her data. Our current goal is to eliminate any potential backdoors in your core security that would allow her to do the same to you." Ichika replied.

"No! Tabane-sama would never do such a thing! You're lying! There's no other explanation!" Aki shouted back.

"Ori, the data, if you please." At that, Ori shimmered into view.

"Done." The older AI replied a moment later.

"What proof do I have that this data is real? You've had plenty of time to fabricate it, after all." Aki replied, her voice unwavering in its conviction. Ori thought for a moment before replying.

"I am willing to undergo a momentary link to prove that this data is, to the best of my knowledge, genuine." Even Aki appeared shocked at that.

"A-A momentary link?" The rest of the room looked quizzically at the two AIs.

"Yes. I am willing to momentarily merge the two of us in order to give you the necessary proof." Ori replied.

"B-But-"

"Try anything and I will end you." Ori warned, her voice promising death if the warning wasn't obeyed.

"Ready?" She asked a moment later when Aki did not respond. Aki nodded hesitantly. Then, the two AI avatars blurred. The entire process was over before Ichika could even blink, but if their avatars were of any indication, it was an exhausting experience for both of them.

"It is done." Ori sighed, her avatar leaning against Ichika's neck. However, the entire room's attention was focused on Aki, whose avatar had started to behave erratically.

"I... I..." The blurring hologram stuttered out as it looked around the room, finally stopping before Houki.

"Aki, what's the matter?" Houki asked, concern plain in her voice.

"I... Houki-sama, I..." Any composure that the young AI once had was gone, her speech nearly incoherent as she began to sob. Unsure as to what to do, Houki reached out to her AI's avatar. Her hand passed right through the hologram, causing it to shimmer.

"Houki-sama... Do you... Do you trust me?" Aki finally choked out.

"O-Of course I do!" Houki stammered out.

"Then you are a fool! I have entire subroutines devoted entirely to betraying you! I was designed to be taken control of at a moment's notice! All it would take is for your sister or Chloe-sama to say a single phrase and-"

"Aki, you aren't-"

"I am! I was hard-coded into sending constant status updates about you to your older sister! The only reason I can't do it now is because of all the cybersecurity in this area! I... I should just delete myself and save you all the trouble." At that, Aki's avatar shimmered out of existence. Almost simultaneously, every single AI avatar in the room disappeared as well.

"Aki-san!" Houki cried out a second later, her hand passing through where the little AI was shimmering moments before. When Ori appeared once again, it was with Houki's arm still through her midsection.

"We've managed to abort the deletion process in time, but significant damage was done before we could start recovery processes. She is recovering now, but..." Ori trailed off.

"Can you save her?" Both Ichika and Houki spoke together.

"I don't know... What we're doing is completely unprecedented. Trying to repair such a badly damaged AI... We don't exactly have little AI doctors to help her, and the operation is too delicate for ordinary AI technicians. I'm honestly unsure if it can be done. The closest analogy I can come up with is brain surgery, but the entire body is one big brain, and a good portion if has been cut off, and we're trying to restore it to its original state... minus a few unsavory features." Ori replied.

"Can it be done?" Houki demanded.

"I don't know... Honestly, if I had known that she would react that way I would have approached things differently." Ori sighed.

"What did you do to her anyway?" Houki asked.

"I initiated a momentary total merge. It is the most perfect form of AI communication, data exchange and verification, but do it for anything more than a moment and both AIs involved risk personality contamination and, in extreme cases, a total merge, which would effectively mean death for both AIs involved. I thought it was the best way of showing her that I was telling the truth, but... I guess I should have tried more conventional reasoning first." Ori replied sadly.

"I see... When will I know if Aki is alright or not?" Houki asked.

"I can't tell... Let's just hope the news doesn't come too soon." There was a long pause afterwards, before Ori spoke up again, this time addressing the room at large.

"However, we still have a job to do. Get a filler AI into the Akatsubaki and fix those backdoors in the core, then let's get these IS suits back to their owners. We have a timetable to keep, after all!" The AI ordered, and the room once again became a hub of activity. Only Houki and Ichika stayed still.

"Ichika..." Houki spoke first.

"I'm sorry, Houki." He replied before the girl could say anything else.

"Today was... Today was one big chain of terrible things. I nearly got you and everyone else killed, I've been caught in a five year old lie, I've gotten you involved in all of this... Hell, I might even have gotten Aki killed." Ichika sighed as he leaned against the wall, the weight of the day's events finally sinking in.

"Could I have possibly done any worse for your birthday?" He laughed wryly at that. To his surprise, Houki laughed as well.

"After everything that has happened, I almost forgot what day it was." She commented as she came to rest beside him.

"I do wonder what will become of the future... Not just that of the world, but the future of us as well. Out of all of us that were out there today, only myself and Kanzashi truly knew what was going on, and then I just tossed you all into the first large-scale IS battle in the world."

Houki was silent as he spoke, and so he continued.

"I've done something unforgivable today, you know. You probably can barely stand to look at me now, and I don't blame you. I nearly killed you all, I've forced Laura, Rin and Charlotte to kill... Damn it, what was I thinking? It's as Laura said, you were all just civilians-" The following slap caused him to slide down the wall, sparks flying through his vision.

"Ichika... Shut up. Just shut up! What's done is done, we're all alive, end of story. I can't say that I agree with what you did, and there will definitely be a reckoning for this later, but that is all irrelevant!" Houki shouted, drawing curious glances from the engineers in the room.

"Houki, I-" Another slap.

"Did I say you could talk? Anyway, do you know what happened when your fellow Organization members took me into the recruitment room? Your recruiter told me, to my face, exactly what my sister was capable of! With cold, hard evidence at his back he showed me exactly how my sister launched an entire apocalypse's worth of nuclear missiles at her own country! He showed me exactly how she drove the Gospel to insanity as part of a publicity stunt! He even showed me intelligence data that shows that she may have been responsible for Phantom Task gaining IS Core manufacturing capability! But do you know why I joined? It wasn't because of my sister, it wasn't to fight Phantom Task... I joined the Organization because of you! I don't care that you lied to us, it was for a good reason! I don't care that you took us into battle, because I would have followed you into the depths of hell regardless, orders or not! Damn it Ichika, I joined because I love you!"

The entire room seemed to fall silent at that declaration. Then, Ichika spoke.

"Houki-" He never got to finish, as said girl hauled him to his feet by his lapels.

"Are all boys this dense, or is it just you?" She muttered, before leaning in and kissing him. It took a few seconds before Ichika could get over his shock and return the gesture, but once he did, the fear and self-loathing faded from his mind, his only thoughts being of the beautiful girl that had just confessed to him.

The applause finally notified the couple that they were not alone, causing them to break apart, their faces crimson.

"What are you all looking at? Get back to work!" Ori shouted suddenly, causing the crowd to slowly disperse. Ichika was dimly aware of the Akatsubaki being stowed away, but the shimmering did little stop him from staring in disbelief at the girl in front of him.

"I-Ichika, you're staring..." Houki said, pointing out the obvious.

"Y-You... I... Kiss..." Ichika's mind was, unfortunately, still rebooting, and thus was unable to form coherent sentences.

"Pervert." Houki murmured, looking away to hide her blush.

"Hey! You kissed me!" Ichika protested, all self-pity forgotten for the moment.

"E-Excuse me, but the IS suits are ready." A young engineer tentatively approached them.

"Thank you. I will take it from here." Ichika replied, quickly taking the IS suits before walking to the door.

"What about Aki?" Houki asked as he was about to leave.

"Aki's situation is... complicated. We now believe that we will be able to restore her to the state she was in immediately before her attempted suicide, but that would mean keeping the inextricable overrides in her programming. If we are to bring her back to life, we want to take away her reason for self-destruction, and that is significantly more difficult to accomplish. However, the prognosis is hopeful. Expect a definite answer by the time you return to WSI Tower." Ori replied, and Houki nodded before falling into step behind him.

"Time to face the music once again, eh Houki?" Ichika asked as the door slid shut behind them.

"I'm with you, Ichika. Remember that." Houki reassured him in turn, and with smiles on their faces they headed back to their friends and fellow students.

* * *

The ride to IS Academy was short and silent, and before Ichika knew it the WSI helicopter had touched down on the IS Academy's helipad. Maya greeted them at the helipad, her normally exuberant face uncharacteristically solemn.

"It's good to see you're all back." The green haired teacher said as the students disembarked, Natasha Fairs' unconscious form being wheeled out behind them on a stretcher. The American IS pilot had chosen to have her memories erased, and was currently sleeping off the drug's effects.

"I heard there was an attack on the beach where we were staying. Was anyone hurt?" Ichika asked as the unconscious pilot was taken into the Academy infirmary.

"We managed to get the students out unhurt thanks to your sister, but we've lost two instructors, and another three are wounded, your sister among them-" That was all Ichika needed to hear before he rushed into the building. It did not take him long to find his sister in the infirmary, and what he saw nearly froze his heart.

Chifuyu lay in the hospital bed, most of her body wrapped in gauze and stem-gel packs, so much so that almost no skin was visible.

"I see you're finally here." Chifuyu rasped from where she lay.

"I came as quickly as I could, Chifuyu-nee." Ichika replied, walking over to stand beside his sister's bed. Both his sister's eyebrows were burnt off, and he choked slightly as he took in her hair, or rather, her lack of it.

"Out of all the things that you could gawk over, its my newfound baldness that hits you the most?" Chifuyu commented, as if reading his mind.

"What happened to you?" Ichika breathed.

"I did something stupid, nothing more."

"And? It would have to be pretty damn stupid to leave you like this!" Ichika replied, causing his sister to try and fail to suppress a small laugh.

"I grabbed my opponent's IS and held it still for a missile salvo." Ichika almost did a double-take at that.

"Of course, in the heat of the moment I may have forgotten that my Uchigane's shield was almost gone." Chifuyu laughed wryly at that.

"Did you get her?" Ichika asked after a few moments' pause.

"Who, the other pilot? I think so. Maya managed to confirm that the second IS fell out of the sky, at any rate."

The room was silent for a moment before Chifuyu spoke up again.

"What took you so long? It couldn't have taken you that long to take out the Gospel." She remarked.

"Forty-two hostile IS suits happened. They came out of the water, which means that they were submarine launched. We had to lead them on a wild-goose chase across the Pacific before we finally lost them. Took us a while to get back here afterwards." Ichika replied.

"And the helicopter?"

"We stopped to eat at the WSI Tower, and they kindly offered us a ride."

"Let me guess. They also took the opportunity to examine the Gospel."

"That they did. They wanted to find out if what happened to the Gospel could happen with their own IS Cores. I am glad to say that it is not an issue. However, it is a rather pressing problem for every single IS equipped with a Tabane-built core." Chifuyu sighed at that.

"You do realized that you just handed over classified American military technology to a Japanese corporation, right?"

"I do. I also have managed to get several exclusive equipment testing contracts signed for my fellow representative candidates. Their IS suits are slated to be re-cored within the week." Chifuyu raised a nonexistent eyebrow at that.

"So, I am supposed to believe that you've got enough clout at that company to wantonly order for five... No, wait, seven IS cores to be installed in your friends' IS suits?" Chifuyu asked.

"IS Cores are like diamonds. Their value is artificially inflated by their supplier. Besides, aren't representative candidates supposed to take the initiative and upgrade their IS suits? As long as the data gets sent back home, it's all good, right?"

"So long as they don't end up like Alyssa Harrisson they are, yes." Chifuyu's comment drew a small laugh out of Ichika. Alyssa had been the first representative candidate to have her status revoked, as she had somehow managed to cram so much useless equipment into her IS that it had ended up unusable.

"There you have it then. Our IS suits will be upgraded to WSI standard by the end of the week. Hopefully you don't have any events planned for this Sunday." Ichika replied.

"Say, how long do you think you'll be staying in here? I can't imagine something little like this will keep you down for long." He continued.

"I've got burns of all degrees all over my body, half my bones are bruised and half of those are broken, and worst of all, my hair is missing! Is that something you call little?" Chifuyu asked.

"For you? Definitely." Both siblings laughed at that.

"Get out of here. I'll never get any sleep with you in here!" Chifuyu choked out as she continued to laugh.

"As you command, Chifuyu-nee!" Ichika replied with a mock salute, before turning and walking out the door.

"It's Orimura-sensei! How many times do I have to remind you?" Ichika paused at that.

"Remind me as much as you like, but you'll always be Chifuyu-nee to me." He replied, and with those words he left the room.

He was met outside by seven concerned girls, Tatenashi having joined them while he was speaking with his sister.

"Is the Instructor alright?" Laura spoke first.

"She is badly injured, but I am confident that she will make a full recovery in time. She's sleeping now though, and we shouldn't disturb her." Ichika replied.

"I understand..." Laura replied.

"We should get some sleep too. It's been a long day for all of us." Ichika replied, walking away from the group.

"Wait!" Charlotte called out, causing him to pause.

"What is it?" Ichika asked.

"About what happened today... I think we should get together and discuss it. Sooner rather than later." Charlotte replied.

"Tomorrow then. I am sure that Tatenashi-san can free up a room for our use." Ichika replied, nodding towards the girl in question.

"I can do that. I assume that this meeting will be to bring them up to speed?"

"Yes. However, until then, I really do believe that we should all get some sleep.

* * *

"This is absolutely unacceptable!" Dr. Meusel had to stifle a yawn as the Phantom Task council member continued his rant.

"Two submarines and forty-five IS suits lost in an engagement they should have won, all thanks to our enemy showing up out of nowhere! We must take decisive action against them immediately!" Erwin Holt, the Admiral of the Phantom Task Atlantic Fleet, raged, his fist keeping cadence with his words.

"But how? We do not know from whence they strike, and they are quite adept at covering their tracks." Arnold Harrington, who commanded the Pacific Fleet pointed out in turn.

"That is something you should have considered before your attempted attack on the Silver Gospel!" Erwin replied.

"All I did was loan two submarines out to Pine and Dogwood cells. It is thanks to their incompetence that the submarines were lost." Aaron couldn't stifle his second yawn at that.

"Are you not entertained, Meusel? Or do you, perhaps, have something to suggest?" The calm voice of Elizabeth Ustenov, the supreme commander of Phantom Task's IS forces, drew all attention to him. Aaron simply laughed in response.

"You ask for my humble opinion, Miss Ustenov? Do you truly want to hear it? My suggestion, and this might be somewhat unsettling, is to stop trying to hunt down their elusive patrol boats and attempt to locate their base of operations. We already have more of a clue as to where they are operating than before, thanks in no small part to my daughter's efforts yesterday. Now we just need to capitalize on that data. Of course, that would require you all to get out of your seats and _work_ , so that is definitely out of question." Aaron replied.

"Watch your tongue, Meusel. Remember that you are only here to report on the progress of the R&D department." Feng Wuli, commander of Phantom Task's Chinese cells, cautioned.

"And report I will! We have designed and produced weapons and technologies that were firmly in the realm of science fiction but twenty years ago! What we have made is capable of winning this little conflict a thousand times over if you idiots would stop squandering them in your petty conflicts! We created technology that can render our submarines effectively invisible, and you use them to torpedo cruise ships! We have created fighter aircraft capable of matching those of our opponents, and you hold them back due to them being too valuable an asset to use in their intended purpose! I have grown you a small army in the vats of my laboratory, and you keep them all cooped up in a giant fish tank! I-"

"Enough Meusel! We do not expect you to grasp the intricacies of our long-term strategies, so hold your tongue before one of us orders it cut out!" Arnold raged.

"Intricacies, huh? I was not aware that word was a synonym for 'We have absolutely no idea what we're doing!' I see no strategy in our movements, but then again, what can you expect from someone who earned his position by torpedoing a cruise ship full of helpless tourists. Oh no, wait, you didn't even do it yourself! You gave the order from halfway around the world! I wonder, have you ever actually seen the Pacific Ocean, Mr. Harrington?" Aaron mocked. As he did so, he took note of the discreet gesture the admiral made and smiled, pressing a button on the remote hidden under his desk as he did so.

"That cruise ship was carrying a possible agent of the enemy. I ordered it torpedoed to make sure he was dead."

"And scarcely two days later that submarine went missing after reporting that it was engaging a suspicious fishing vessel. But you were too busy being promoted to care for wasted lives, weren't you?" Aaron replied.

"I never took you for a squeamish one, Meusel. One would think that with the kind of experiments you do, you would be rather numb to the loss of life by now." Elizabeth commented.

"There is a difference between spending lives and wasting them, Miss Ustenov. If it accomplished a worthwhile objective, I would gladly send a thousand to their deaths, but one life wasted is too much. After all, that wasted life could have died in a more effective manner. That is a lesson that none of you seem to have taken to heart." That last bit of mockery was, apparently, the last straw for Arnold, who stood up from his seat, a furious expression on his face.

"I have just about had enough of you. Guards! Seize him!" The man ordered. A few seconds later a pair of screams rang out from the doorway behind Aaron's podium, and the doctor's smile grew.

"See, this is what I mean by wasting lives, Admiral. You just wasted two in order to resolve a petty squabble... Now, allow me to demonstrate a proper method of applying force." Aaron replied, snapping his fingers as he did so. Immediately, several screams rang out as the many entrances to the council room burst open, two of Dr. Meusel's Aberrations surging through. Several gunshots rang out as some of the council members attempted to fight back with their pistols. One bullet cracked past Aaron's head, striking the wall behind him. The shooter didn't have a chance to fire again, as one of the Aberrations behind him cleanly sliced off his head. Out of all the council members, only one could have provided any meaningful resistance, and that was Elizabeth. However, the woman was too slow in deploying her IS, and the glowing bracelet, along with her entire left arm, was cut off before the suit could deploy.

In total, twenty seconds passed between the doors bursting open and the end of the killing. Only one member of the council remained standing after the carnage had ended. The sound of slow, steady clapping promptly drew the doctor's attention to the front of the room, where a simple hologram shimmered.

"Well played, Dr. Meusel. I was wondering when you would finally execute your little coup." The voice of Phantom Task's leader echoed from the speakers at the front of the room.

"It was long overdue, but it took me some time to gather enough Aberrations for the actual attempt. I take it you support my actions?" In response, two gun barrels were leveled at the back of his head. Thirty other figures shimmered into being at their respective vantage points around the room, their weapons trained at the monsters around the room.

"I was wondering where your men had all gone. They were present at every meeting right up until I built a successful personal cloak, at which point they all just vanished. What a coincidence, am I right?" Aaron laughed, somewhat nervously. He knew that if the leader wanted him dead then he wouldn't have bothered with the display of force, but having two guns to the back of his head was nonetheless a rather stressful experience.

"Indeed. Now, as you are the last council member remaining, the appointment of additional members falls to you. As the most senior of all remaining council members, you are now second to me in the command chain of this organization. This means that I expect results. Fail to produce what you promised and you will face liquidation. Understood?" Aaron nodded at that, and the gun barrels went away, the guardsmen shimmering back out of view.

"Good." The hologram shimmered, and appeared at Aaron's side.

"Walk with me, Doctor." The hologram spoke, and began to move, Aaron following beside him.

"You know, I could provide you with the necessary augmentations to allow you to attend these meetings in person." Aaron suggested as he followed the hologram.

"And put myself in your reach? No, I would rather not." Aaron laughed nervously at that, knowing that there were at least two guardsmen invisible nearby.

"So, now that we are alone, I would like you to tell me exactly what you plan to do." The hologram ordered.

"At the moment? My first objective is to establish additional submarine factories. Our current facility in the arctic may be compromised thanks to the possible capture of the Carcharodon's captain. I am thinking at least three separate facilities with access to both Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Next, I intend to order our existing forces to go to ground. Intelligence gathering only. Until we can determine where to strike, there is no point leaving our operatives and assets vulnerable. We will, of course, have to... outsource some of our operations to various proxies, but those should be temporary setbacks at most." Aaron explained.

"And what do you plan on doing while we are in hiding?"

"Increasing production. More submarines, more aircraft, more Golems and IS suits, and more trained personnel to operate them. Our recruitment base is large enough that we can safely increase our submarine forces by almost fifty percent without stepping up recruitment, and if we do we may be able to double that. In addition, the recent battles against Them has proven that conventional aircraft still have their niche in warfare. This means expanding the air corps. As for-" The leader's voice interrupted him before he could continue.

"The enemy organization that has been plaguing us has officially been designated OpFor: Code Black. Please refer to them as such in further conversation." Aaron nodded and continued.

"Understood. As for our IS Corps, I believe that significant reforms are necessary. Previously, we have been taking a rather... Feudalistic approach to IS combat, with the daughters of high-ranking families being automatically given an IS and sent into combat after private training. While the IS Corps is large enough that the recruitment base does not need to be changed, I believe that training should be significantly altered to incorporate Golems."

"As I recall, your Golems performed somewhat poorly during the Gospel incident, and were unable to overwhelm an equal force of IS Academy Instructors, despite being better equipped in every way."

"Of course they under-performed! That fool Reikou didn't give them any time to learn! Golems aren't born with skills equivalent to a trained IS pilot! They have the instincts, true, but they need experience just like any other pilot. Therefore I intend to integrate them into our IS Corps' training. Due to their nature and ease of production, I intend to divide our IS forces into wings of eight Golems commanded by a single human pilot in battle."

"I see... However, you have failed to mention exactly how you will reveal our opponent to us. Do you have a plan? I recall your daughter was quite useful in narrowing down the possible location of the hostile base, but we were ultimately unable to determine its exact position. What is your plan to follow up on Squall's data?" Aaron sighed at that.

"While my little darling Squall should be praised for her initiative, she ultimately took a needless risk in her attempt to locate the enemy base. While it is indeed possible to locate it by a massed sweep of the area north of Japan, the result would be both wasteful and nearly impossible to keep secret. No, I intend to try a different, more subtle approach. After all, there is one exploitable link present that all the ex-generals in that room have missed, namely one Orimura Ichika. His actions today have shown that he has significant ties to Code Black, that is, if he isn't a full member of said organization."

"Oh? And what makes Reikou's middle child so important to your plans?" The leader asked, but from his tone of voice he already knew the answer.

"He is important because, unlike the fighter craft and patrol vessels that hit our submarines with depressing regularity, we know exactly where he is based, namely at IS Academy. I intend to insert one of our own into said academy as a representative candidate for one of our front corporations. Is that doable?" Aaron asked.

"Yes, I believe that we have several companies that are capable of doing just that, although I am curious as to whom you plan on sending on this mission."

"Well, now that you mention it, my younger daughter is about the right age for IS Academy, and procuring an IS for her is not a problem."

"So eager to volunteer her for this mission, are you? Are you, perhaps, trying to get her out of my reach? Are you afraid that I will use her as a method of control?"

"No, you already have perfect control over my actions. All it would take is a gun to the back of my head and I am perfectly pliable... I am a coward in that respect, after all. No, I volunteer my daughter because she is the only suitable operative whose capabilities are known to me. I could send one of twenty other girls into the Academy, but they are all unknown variables. I would much prefer to go with someone whom I know is suitable for the operation." Aaron replied, gesturing around him where he knew lurked invisible guardsmen.

"I see. I shall begin the necessary preparations to have your daughter transfer in to IS Academy at the start of the next semester. I trust you will have an IS Suit ready by then?"

"Of course."

"Then I will leave you to it. Pray that you don't disappoint me." At that, the hologram shimmered out of existence. A few seconds passed in silence, before a pair of barely audible hums indicated the two guardsmen behind him decloaking.

"I take it that you two are my new minders?" Aaron asked without looking back.

"Yes. As of this moment, it is our duty to act as your personal guards. We will protect you from any assassination attempt by any of your rivals, as well as from more external threats." One of the two men replied, his voice flat and modulated.

"I assume that, in the event that I displease our supreme leader, it will be your job to fill me up with lead?" Aaron asked, still not looking back.

"Very astute." The reply came back.

"Good. In the event that I do attract our leader's displeasure, I would like to request that you shoot me in the back of the head, right about here." Aaron indicated the spot on the back of his skull.

"If we are ordered to, that is what we will do."

"Good. Your presence is no longer necessary." At that, the guards cloaked once again, but Aaron did not doubt for a moment that they remained behind him, weapons at the ready.

* * *

Now aware of his new guard, Aaron made his way back to his personal housing area. Compared to the lavish housing complexes of some other families, the Meusel family's complex was small and spartan, the family preferring to work outside of it rather than play political games within. At the moment, it only had one other occupant, who met him just within the complex's entrance, an exuberant grin on her face.

"Daddy!" Lily Meusel cried out, wrapping her arms around her father, who returned the embrace wholeheartedly.

"It's good to see you too, Lily." He replied, the imagined stares of his new guards boring holes in the back of his neck.

"I assume that you have been keeping up with your studies and training?" He asked, releasing his daughter.

"Yep! You were so awesome today during the meeting! The other guys were all like 'Seize him!' and you were all like 'Nope! The tables have turned! All of you Die Now!'" Lily laughed.

"Yes. Now, I have something very important to tell you." Aaron said.

"What is it? Did you invent something new again? Or am I getting a new pet?" Aaron laughed at that.

"No, you're not getting a new pet. Speaking of which, have you been feeding Mr. Freckles?"

"Yup! Three times every day! Will I be able to take him on my mission?" Lily asked.

"No, you will have to leave him with your sister."

"I'll get to see Squall again?" Lily asked.

"Yes, you will meet up with her briefly before being deployed."

"So what's the mission?"

"You are to enter IS Academy and make contact with one Orimura Ichika. We have strong evidence that he is in regular contact with the secret organization designated OpFor: Code Black that has been attacking our submarine forces. Your job is to gather data about this organization, whether through monitoring his actions or via direct contact, I don't particularly care which at this moment. Construction of your IS suit will begin immediately. Do you understand your objective?"

"I do. What information should I focus on obtaining?" The exuberance was gone from Lily's voice when she spoke.

"Focus on obtaining the location of the Code Black base. If possible, I want information on the base's defenses and the equipment of the Code Black organization. You are welcome to try anything you wish, be it kidnapping and interrogation or seduction, I don't care so long as it gets results." Aaron replied.

"Understood. I will not disappoint you, father."

"I know you won't." Aaron ruffled his daughter's hair once, before turning and leaving the Meusel complex. He had a job to do, and the ever-present feeling of being watched meant that he had better get on it.

* * *

The next morning at IS Academy was a somber one. For once, nobody stared at Ichika as he ate breakfast, even the girls around him being too focused on their thoughts and meals to give him more than the occasional glance. All conversations in the room were quiet, spoken in whispers and interspersed with the occasional sob. Nonetheless, Ichika managed to catch a few snippets here and there.

"... Orimura-sensei was so brave up there..."

"... When do you think classes will resume?"

"I wish I was a representative candidate so I could have fought..."

"Where was Orimura-kun during all of this?" That last one was spoken in a familiar voice, and Ichika turned to see Kiyoka Aikawa sitting behind him.

"I don't know, I heard that he and all our year's representative candidates were called away on some secret mission before the attack..." Shizune Takatsuki replied, trailing off as she noticed Ichika's attention on her. Kiyoka followed her gaze to look him in the eye.

"Ichika-kun... Where were you during all this?" The magenta haired girl asked softly.

"It is as Shizune-san said. We were called away on a mission to subdue a rogue IS, and ended up being chased halfway across the Pacific by more than forty hostile IS suits."

"F-Forty?!" Both girls exclaimed, drawing curious glances from the other girls in the room.

"Yes, forty-three to be exact, and from what Yamada-sensei told me after we finally got back, they belonged to the same people that attacked the Academy. They were likely trying to steal our IS suits, but we managed to escape them in the end, although it looks like we got back too late..." Ichika replied softly, noticing the girls behind him shift uncomfortably at the mention of the previous day's battle.

"How..." Whatever Shizune was about to say was interrupted by Tatenashi making her presence known.

"The meeting room is ready, and... Am I interrupting something?" The student council president said, glancing at Shizune and Aikawa.

"Not at all. Lead the way." Ichika replied, standing up and motioning to the rest of the girls at the table to follow him.

"Where are you going?" Shizune asked as they grabbed their things.

"We need to discuss something... In private." Ichika replied as he turned to leave.

The group quickly filed out of the cafeteria, soon leaving the building altogether. The air was just the tiniest bit chilly, letting Ichika know that fall was starting to come to an end.

"What room did you pick out?" Ichika asked as they approached the dormitories, heading around to the side of the building.

"You'll see." Tatenashi had her trademark mischievous smirk on as she said that.

Finally, the group stopped at a small door in the side of the dorm building wall.

"What's this?" Ichika asked as Tatenashi swiped a card and opened the door.

"Maintenance corridors. It's how the building's technicians and maintenance staff get around. As the student council president, I have access to them so long as I do not damage anything. They make great shortcuts, especially once you memorize them. You can get pretty much anywhere on campus through these, and aside from the occasional technician, you won't meet anyone else, especially in the dorm building, as there is rather little to maintain here in comparison to, say, the IS Arenas." Tatenashi explained as she entered, the rest of the group filing in behind her, closing the door behind them. The corridors were dim, lit only by the occasional blue light as Tatenashi led the rest of the group through them, navigating the labyrinth with a practiced ease.

"Does that passageway over there lead to my room?" Ichika asked a short while later, pointing to one particular exit.

"Somewhere near it, yeah. How did you know?" Tatenashi asked.

"Just a hunch." Ichika replied, looking over the stacks of spare doors that lay beside the exit, each one having a large 1025 on it.

"We're almost there now." Tatenashi said, and true to her word, she soon stopped at a hatch in the floor. Beside the hatch was a small control panel, with a few ordinary knobs and switches on it. Walking up to it, Tatenashi quickly turned flipped the switch marked Window Polarization to 'On', and then turned the knob marked 'Water Temperature'.

"Now, while the following room will be easy for Ichika-kun to get into, the rest of you will have to take the maintenance corridors to get in." Tatenashi continued, walking away from the panel and opening the hatch, allowing a pleasant golden light into the dark corridor. The blue haired girl then dropped down into the room below, and Ichika moved to follow, leaping down and taking a look at the room that Tatenashi had chosen as their meeting place.

"Tatenashi..." He began as he quickly got clear, allowing Charlotte to follow him down into the room.

"Why are we in the Boys' Large Bath?" Charlotte finished his question as she too looked around the room.

"A number of reasons." Tatenashi explained as Cecilia and Houki dropped into the room, the two girls looking rather scandalized as they took in their surroundings.

"Such as?" Laura asked as she followed Rin and Kanzashi into the large room, the hatch sliding shut behind her.

"Firstly, it's very big, and thanks to its status as a bath, lacks cameras. In addition, the windows can be polarized to prevent visual eavesdropping, and is soundproof enough that nobody will hear us talking in here. Plus, as it's a Boys' bath and this is an almost exclusively female school, nobody else will come here. In addition, once the water temperature has been reduced to the point that the room no longer gets all fogged up, it is actually rather comfortable."

"Is that all? Given how difficult it is to get into for anyone who isn't me, there has to be more than that." Ichika commented.

"Yes, there is. First-off, as the room's only user, you are free to request any alterations to it that you wish, and there is plenty of room for improvement here, not to mention that with the Student Council President's backing pretty much any request you have will be almost guaranteed to go through without issue." Tatenashi paused for a moment, before nonchalantly starting to strip off her clothing, revealing a rather skimpy light blue swimsuit underneath. Winking at Ichika, she then walked into the water, sighing as she sank into the warm water of the bath.

"Finally, I do believe that it is a rather relaxing place, and given the nature of what we will be discussing in here, being able to relax is rather important, right?" Tatenashi smirked as she arched her back beneath the water, stretching in an almost catlike manner.

"Just what are you playing at Tatenashi? This is a serious matter we are about to discuss!" Ichika demanded in reply, the rest of the girls present nodding in agreement, and Tatenashi sighed in response from where she lay in the water.

"All jokes aside, I do believe that this is the best place for us to discuss things pertaining to the Organization. Aside from you, nobody, neither students nor staff, are allowed in here, and the lack of security cameras and relative soundproofing means that this place is perfect for holding clandestine meetings. The giant hot tub is just a bonus." Tatenashi replied, and after a few moments, Ichika shook his head.

"Fine. We will meet here. I will have a table and some chairs installed in here as soon as possible. Until then, we will just have to stand." Ichika replied, leaning back against the wall.

"Aww, won't you come join me? The water's perfect!" Tatenashi called out.

"I would rather not derail this meeting before it has even begun, so no." Ichika replied, before turning to the rest of the group, the girls all looking at him in anticipation.

"Now then, let's get down to business." He spoke, his words marking the start of the first of many meetings that would take place in the large yet underused bath.

* * *

 **A/N: And it's finally done! While I'm not particularly fond of the very first scene in this chapter, I do believe that this particular update has gotten better as it went on. With this chapter completed, the first season of Infinite Stratos has been officially finished with, and soon the second season will begin. I'm thinking three interim chapters at most, before starting on the events of Season 2, albeit with some rather significant deviations culminating in PLOT! Yay! During the interim I intend to focus more on the Organization as a whole, although Ichika and the rest of STS-01 will make a few appearances here and there. Now that that's been said, time for some comments on the chapter as a whole.**

 **Firstly, when calculating the explosive power of antimatter, rather than just pulling a figure out of my ass like I did with A Special Task (Where 1 molecule of Antimatter = spaceship killer) , I looked online, and the source I used, while its veracity is somewhat dubious, places a single kilogram of antimatter at almost 43 megatons of TNT, which rivals the Russian Tsar Bomba (50 megatons) in terms of explosive power. I will be using this source in the future, just in case I need to blow something up with Antimatter.**

 **Next up is the re-coring of the IS suits, specifically the Schwarzer Regen. I do not intend to just gloss over the fact that such a critical alteration has been made to Laura's IS, and indeed the Regen's re-coring will be brought up in the future. As for the other IS suits, as their ownership is somewhat more private, (with the exception of the ShenLong) their modifications will be much easier to conceal, and even the ShenLong, while it is definitely owned by the PLA, as evidenced by Rin mentioning that she had undergone marksmanship training in the OVA, said IS suit's modifications can likely be kept secret by a combination of government unwillingness to reveal the existence of such a glaring flaw in their IS suits' security and some shady political maneuvers on the Organization's part.**

 **In addition to the above, I really enjoyed overturning the regular 'Useless Anime Armchair General' trope during Dr. Meusel's coup, and writing in the Leader's scene was an added bonus for me. As for who the Leader is, I already have that planned out, although I won't be telling you the truth any time soon! MWAHAHAHAHA! Finally, the inclusion of Lily Meusel into the story will mean creating a real threat to Ichika's life, as well as the Organization's secrecy as a whole. The fact that Charlotte was able to sneak in as a member of the opposite gender means that it would be possible for her to enter IS Academy as a corporate representative with a false background. I hope you all like my initial portrayal of her, and similarly look forward to her inclusion into the drama that is ISAc.**

 **Finally, regarding Agent Orimura: The Declassified Files, the upcoming reforms of the Phantom Task Armed Forces means that the TDF entry/entries for Phantom Task will likely be coming out before Season 2 starts in-fic. I hope you all have enjoyed the fic so far, and that you continue to enjoy future updates. Until next time!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Sorry for taking a little longer than usual to get this one out. I had a few issues with Writer's Block (It was the bath scene, btw. I still am not sure I have it 100% right), and planning a rewrite for one of my older fics certainly didn't help. (Rebuild of When Civilization Meet coming hopefully this February!). Anyway, now that that's been said, I hope you all enjoy this somewhat belated, but hopefully no less well-written chapter!**

 **On a side note, I don't write outright lemons, as I feel that simple smut like that more often than not takes away from the story rather than contributing to it. I do wonder though, should I bump this story's rating up to an M with what I've done? Let me know what you think, although I don't intend to do such scenes very often.**

 **Also, while writing this particular chapter, several particularly intriguing reviews by a character only known as 'Tsun' were posted for this fic, and I would like to respond to them. Firstly, I would like to thank Tsun for his/her/it's constructive criticism and pointing out the many weak points of this story. Some of the issues I had already noticed, and either shoved quietly under the rug or planned to resolve at a later chapter, while others I did not see. In order to avoid spoilers, I will avoid listing these issues in the Author's Notes, and would like open a channel of communication with him/her/it in order to discuss possible solutions and their effects on the story. Thank you once again, Tsun, for keeping me from getting a big head from reading too many positive reviews.**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

"Now then, let's get down to business." Ichika spoke, the attention of the room now focused entirely on him.

"Firstly, before we start discussing anything to do with the inner workings of the Organization, I would like to ask if any of you have received responses to the messages you sent out last night." To that, Laura replied first.

"I have, and I was planning on bringing it up with you later today." The silver haired girl replied.

"I see. What were its contents?" Ichika asked.

"Interesting. It seems that, thanks to my rapid acceptance of WSI's offer, the defense minister deduced that WSI had managed to develop a countermeasure against this backdoor. I was asked, no, I was ordered to get the information on that countermeasure out of you by any means necessary." Laura replied, and Ichika sighed, before turning to the rest of the girls that had sent their messages.

"I take it that you all received similar orders?" He asked, and the girls in question nodded.

"I see. Tatenashi, you're in intel, so you are to forward these requests to our superiors. I assume that, in the event that asking nicely doesn't yield results, you have been ordered to try more extreme measures?" Ichika asked.

"I have, and in the event that my attempts prove ineffective, additional assets from Germany will be deployed to obtain the information directly from the source." Laura replied.

"I see. Unfortunately, I do not have the authorization to hand over the data myself, that is up to my superiors to decide." Laura looked pensive for a moment, before nodding and sitting down at the edge of the bath, her fingers dipping lightly into the slightly steaming water.

"I have no objection to that." She said simply.

"Good. Now, the next order of business is the upcoming re-coring of your IS suits. It is a relatively short procedure, but it will result in your IS gaining a True AI similar to Ori or Aki as its control system. I-" Cecilia interrupted him before he could continue.

"Wait, so we will all be getting AIs? Won't other people notice?" The blonde asked.

"I kept Ori secret well enough, and Tatenashi already has Tuman, while Kanzashi has Gladys. Five more AIs shouldn't pose too much of a problem." Ichika replied. It was Laura who spoke next.

"Wait a minute, won't this mean that your organization will be able to take control of our IS suits?"

"Unless you plan on using the Schwarzer Regen against our own assets, you don't have to worry. In addition, we have no plans to re-core the entire world's IS forces. Any information on backdoor closure will simply do just that." At that, Laura sighed.

"I noticed that you didn't say no." She replied a moment later.

"Of course I didn't. After all, the capability is still there." Ichika answered.

"So I'm just trading one security risk for another? Is that what you're saying?"

"Any security risks will be entirely limited to the Schwarzer Regen, as we have neither the means nor the resources to discreetly re-core every single IS in the world. A genuine countermeasure will be created and distributed, along with the instructions for how to make it. However, as you are already in the know about out little Organization, we need to do something that will ensure you will not become a threat. Understood?"

"Promise me that... You know what? Never mind." Laura sighed once more, shaking her head.

"Promise you what?"

"Nothing. It likely isn't your call to make."

"Let me guess. You want my assurance that these devices will not be used for espionage." Laura nodded at that.

"I see. Well, you're right in that I have absolutely no say in that regard. However, rest assured that espionage of that sort is not part of the Organization's agenda." Ichika reassured. Laura's only response was to laugh.

"The stolen nuclear reactor under your base says otherwise." Laura replied.

"Point taken." Laura nodded at that, smiling somewhat smugly at having won the argument.

"Obvious security issues aside, Ichika-san, what else will be happening to us during the upcoming visit to WSI Headquarters?" Cecilia butted in, steering the conversation back on track.

"You all will be briefed individually, in detail, about the various ways your lives will change, now that you all know of the Organization's existence. You will be told what we expect of you, and finally, you will all receive a package from our intelligence department, for use as instructed."

"You make it sound as if we are members." Laura commented.

"Look, Laura. If you were just an ordinary civilian, we would have simply warned you to stay silent, as well as ensure that you do not dig any further. However, when the person in the know is a pilot of the most effective weapon that humanity has yet to design, our protocols are understandably different." Tatenashi responded before Ichika could.

"I understand that, but-"

"Do you? An Infinite Stratos suit is not only ridiculously powerful, but also incredibly easy to conceal. That is how Phantom Task manages to hide IS pilots under our very noses! That is why, Laura Bodewig, we are not going to let a bunch of potential security risks run wild. What if, hypothetically, one of you were to embark on some demented crusade to rid the world of our Organization? While it would take some effort, you could easily change your identity and flee without us knowing, and then we would have another, nigh-undetectable opponent to face that, with the help of a nigh-undetectable weapon, could easily bring most of our worldwide operations crashing to a bloody halt! That is why, member or not, you will be watched carefully in order to ensure you are not a threat. Do you understand?" Tatenashi lectured sternly, causing the rest of the girls assembled to wince slightly. When she finished, the room was silent, save for the occasional splash of water as Tatenahi idly played with it, her hand waving back and forth just below the surface. It was Charlotte who finally broke the silence.

"Ichika... What about us?" The blonde haired French girl asked, her voice somewhat hesitant.

"What about us?" Ichika asked, somewhat confused.

"I believe she means 'What will happen to our relationship?'" Laura clarified.

"Exactly. Now that we're all a part of... This, what will happen now?" Charlotte added.

"I don't see how this changes anything. After all, you're still Charlotte, and I'm still Ichika. I don't see how we can't just be as we were before." Ichika said, causing Charlotte to shake her head in response.

"Ichika... As much as we want to, we can't just go back to the innocent friendships of days past. After all, whether we like it or not, we're all now involved in a secret war that may or may not decide the fate of the world! What if your Organization calls you away one day and you don't come back? Do we just sigh and sit around like stereotypical movie girls until some new guy comes along and sweeps us off our feet? Do we go on an insane quest to avenge you? None of this was a concern before, but it most certainly is now! So tell me, Ichika, what will become of us?" Charlotte demanded, walking closer and closer to him until her face was inches away from his.

"I... I want us to stay friends. I want us to trust each other once again. I want to see you, Laura... Everyone, looking at me without that uncertain fear hidden in your eyes. I want that... And so much more, but-" Charlotte's finger covered his lips before he could say any more.

"Good. Because so do I." And with that, the finger over his lips was replaced by the sensation of Charlotte, her lips over his in a gentle kiss, while her arms wrapped around his.

"As do I." Another voice spoke, and a second pair of arms encircled him, while a second head gently nudged Charlotte off him. Opening his eyes, Ichika saw Houki standing there, with an expression that promised pain were it not for more pressing concerns.

"While I cannot promise that our relationship will be the same, I do, of course, want us to be friends once again!" Cecilia declared as Houki leaned in for her own kiss, and a third body joined the hug, not so subtly trying to push Houki over to the side.

"H-Hey! Don't forget about me!" Rin jumped up and ran over, not wanting to be left out. For a few moments, the five of them remained that way, before Charlotte looked back, Ichika following her gaze to see Laura, sitting alone by the edge of the water, her face dejected as she gazed her rippling reflection in the eye.

"Laura? What about you?" Charlotte asked, causing the silver haired girl to look up, startled.

"What about me?" She asked.

"You know what! Get over here!" Charlotte called out, one of her arms withdrawing from the embrace and extending towards the silver haired girl. After a few moments' hesitation, Laura stood and walked over, Charlotte grabbing her as she came within reach, drawing her close. Hesitantly, Laura embraced her, both of the silver haired girl's arms wrapping around Charlotte, the French girl looking somewhat shocked for a moment before drawing her close.

"Aww, how cute! Can I join?" Tatenashi's voice echoed through the bath as she leaped out of the water, only for her foot to slip on a patch of wet floor, causing her to come crashing to the ground. For a moment, the sound of water was the only sound in the room, before Rin's laughter broke the silence, Kanzashi joining in soon after, with the rest of the girls breaking out into peals of laughter as well.

"Hey, that's not nice! Ichika, make them stop!" Tatenashi complained from where she lay on the floor. That only caused Ichika's shocked composure to break, and pretty soon he joined the girls in their mirth.

"Fine, be that way!" The blue haired girl pouted, before suddenly lashing out and grabbing Ichika's foot, causing him, and the girls around him, to stumble. Unfortunately, they were right at the edge of the bath, and with a tremendous splash, the entire group fell into the water.

"Who's laughing now?" Tatenashi called out as she stood up, only for an arm to snake out of the water and grab her ankle, and with a loud shriek she too was dragged into the water, splashing a spluttering Laura, who had managed to somehow keep her balance in all this, soaking her previously dry shirt. Her sole visible eye narrowing at the culprit, she splashed back, only to hit Charlotte, who had just surfaced between them. Coughing and spluttering, Charlotte attempted to return fire, but missed, the water nailing Ichika, who had just opened his eyes, in the face.

"Why you..." With those words as his battle cry, Ichika leaped forward, only for Charlotte to step to the side, causing him to slam into Tatenashi, knocking the blue haired girl down once more. His head came to rest on something soft, and he opened his eyes to see Tatenashi's face just above his, the Student Council President's face tinged with a light blush.

"Ichika..." An all too familiar voice spoke in an all too familiar tone. Ichika's head swiveled until he locked eyes with a clearly enraged Houki, the Japanese girl's white uniform soaked through, revealing the pink lace beneath.

"H-Houki-" Ichika tried to protest, but as usual, it did nothing to stem the long haired girl's wrath.

"Divine punishment!" With those words on her lips, Houki waded forward, while Ichika scrambled upward from his rather comfortable position atop Tatenashi.

The fight continued on for quite some time, and it was over an hour later that a thoroughly soaked Ichika finally clambered out of the warm water onto the now equally wet floor around the bath, the rest of the girls clambering out around him, smiles firmly planted on their glistening faces, and the solemnity of the morning temporarily forgotten. Their wet clothing clung to them, a fact that Ichika was all too aware of.

"Well, we didn't get much done today." Kanzashi commented.

"What makes you say that?" Ichika asked, turning to face the quiet girl.

"We have so much more to explain to them! We haven't told them what they will be getting from intel, or about the potential upgrades we offer for their IS suits, or the-" Ichika cut her off before she could continue.

"True, but none of that is vital right this moment. What matters is what you see when you look around." Ichika said, gesturing around the bath, pointing to each of the girls in turn.

"See their faces, Kanzashi? They don't look like they have come back from a bloody battle yesterday. They don't look like the faces of people who have killed. Do you get what I am saying, Kanzashi?" He continued. After a few moments, Kanzashi nodded.

"So how do we get out of here? The only exit is on the ceiling, and we can't exactly get up there." Rin interjected into the conversation, gesturing up at the ceiling through which they had entered the room.

"Oh ye of little faith!" Tatenashi replied, striding over to a panel on one of the room's walls. Opening it, the bikini-clad girl hit a few buttons, causing the panel in the ceiling to open up and a ladder to extend down. Looks like they had their exit after all.

* * *

A knock on the door caused Madoka to sit up, raising an eyebrow in mild curiosity. Autumn and Squall never knocked, and her new pet was already in the room with her, so the person on the other side of the door couldn't be any of them...

"Hello? Is this the room of Orimura Madoka?" Madoka's eyes widened slightly at that voice. Could it be...

"What is it?" She asked hesitantly. In response, the door flew open and an excited ball of arms and legs practically flew into the room.

"Madoka-chaaaannn!" Lily Meusel cried out as she glomped the other girl in the room, a broad smile on her face.

"Lily..." Madoka whispered, her hands rising slowly to return the embrace.

"I missed you so much! I haven't seen you for so long! How are you doing?" Lily babbled out.

"Lily..." Madoka replied again, her eyes starting to mist up as she held on tightly to the only friend she ever had, a friend that she hadn't seen for several years.

"Is something wrong?" Lily asked, concern plain in her voice as she looked her black haired friend in the eyes. That opened up the floodgates, and slowly but surely, tears began to trickle down the Orimura girl's face.

"I missed you..." Madoka choked out, remembering the one person who had ever shown her true kindness during her childhood. A gentle touch from a familiar hand prevented her from saying more, as Lily removed one of her hands from Madoka's waist to dry her tears.

The touching moment was interrupted by a low, menacing growl from the corner of the room.

"No 109! She is a friend!" Madoka shouted out at the monster that had made its presence known in the corner of the room.

"109? Does that mean-" A second, louder growl cut Lily off.

"No!" Madoka shouted again, placing herself between her friend and her pet, the latter of which prowled menacingly in front of her, hackles raised and teeth bared.

"No! Bad! You will not hurt her! She is a friend!" Madoka ordered again. 109 cocked its head in response, blinking twice as if to indicate confusion. Madoka nodded in response, and the monster gave a disgruntled growl in response before slinking back to the room's darkest corner, its eyes fixated on Lily's face. Said girl gave the monster a victorious smirk, before rearranging her features into familiar concern as Madoka turned back to her.

"I don't understand! He's only ever acted that way with Autumn and your sister." Madoka said as she turned to face her friend once more.

"I don't either... He seemed so friendly back in the lab..." Lily murmured.

"It's really strange..." Madoka replied, sitting down on her bed, Lily sitting down beside her.

"I know, I thought that Daddy made sure that none of his creations would ever threaten me..." Lily sighed, lying back on the bed, a frown now marring her refined features.

"So what are you doing here?" Madoka asked, looking down at her friend, who immediately perked up at that, a radiant smile once again adorning her face.

"Well... I'm sure you've heard about how Daddy staged a coup by now, right?" Madoka nodded at that. Reikou would have had a fit at that, had she not been in a medical coma at the time.

"Well, after he took out the rest of those idiots in the Council, he decided to give me my first mission! I've been ordered to infiltrate IS Academy and... Interrogate one Orimura Ichika for information about Code Black... Say, that's the guy you want to kill, right?" Lily asked.

"Yes... I have been tasked with killing my... Estranged genetic sibling." Madoka replied.

"Great! I'll be sure to save him for you once I'm finished with him!" Lily said, smiling in response.

"But... How will you get in?" Madoka asked.

"Simple! Daddy's currently designing and building a special IS for me, and by the time the second semester begins I will be ready to enter as a representative of Stratospec Industries. Once there, I'm supposed to gain my mark's trust, and then wait for the perfect moment to strike... Ugh, and he's a drooling teenage boy too. At least it won't be that hard to get his trust. As I said, I'll try to save him for you, but if he pisses me off... I'm afraid I'll have to take matters into my own hands!" Lily declared.

"Just be sure to save the head for me. Mother specifically mentioned bringing that part back." Madoka replied dryly, and Lily snorted in response.

"So old fashioned... Doesn't she know it's the 21st century? We have something called DNA proof, you know! No need to carry a stinky head through customs!" The blonde replied, sitting up and stretching, the movement calling Madoka's attention to her friend's rather large bust.

"Like what you see?" Lily giggled, and Madoka blushed slightly in response.

"So, what do you say we get to know our mark beforehand? It'll make our job a whole lot easier, that's for sure!" Lily said when no response came from the girl beside her.

"What are you suggesting?" Madoka asked.

"Well... Do you have a laptop with you? I was thinking of getting in touch with him via E-mail, maybe have you pose as a 'Concerned friend of an incoming transfer student looking for advice'. I've already got my backstory fabricated and everything, so we shouldn't have any problems with giving away the game!" Lily replied after thinking for a moment.

"Clever... I'll go grab my laptop right away... 109, stay there! Don't touch her!" Madoka replied, standing up from the bed and walking out of the room, pausing at the door to make sure that Number 109 was indeed staying. Then, satisfied that her pet was obeying her, the black haired girl left the room.

For a moment, the room was quiet, before a threatening growl broke the silence. Lily simply smiled in amusement as the creature in the corner bared its teeth at her.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but let me make one thing clear 109. M is mine, and if I have to remove you from the equation, I will not hesitate to do so. After all, my father already has your DNA on record, so your loss is ultimately inconsequential." Lily spoke, her voice cold and sharp. 109 simply narrowed its eyes in response, another growl emanating from its throat.

"Know your place, beast. I have watched every step of your life so far, and I would gladly put you down like the rabid dog you are, but doing so would upset M, and that is not something I wish to do. So do stop that growling. It is annoying me." Lily said. A second later, the door opened, and Madoka stepped back in, laptop in hand. Turning to her, Lily's face held another one of her radiant smiles.

"You've got it? Good, let's get to work!" Lily exclaimed as Madoka sat down beside her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw 109 slide its claw across its throat before gesturing in her direction, but she ignored the gesture, choosing instead to slide closer to Madoka, wrapping one of her arms around the black haired girl's waist, smiling as the younger girl shuddered slightly at the contact. The pale glow of the computer screen couldn't hide Madoka's faint blush at the gesture, and Lily took that as her cue to move in closer.

"So, let's get to work now, shall we?" She purred into the younger girl's ear.

"Y-Yes! Let's! W-We need his c-contact information first, and then-" Madoka stammered out.

"Don't worry, I've already got what we need. Now, we just need to send the perfect message..." Lily replied, whispering into the other girl's ear while her hand massaged said girl's inner thigh.

"Y-Yes!" Madoka stammered out, sounding more like a giddy schoolgirl than the stone-cold killer she actually was.

It took some time, but the message was written, and with a few edited pictures attached, the first of many messages was sent. The send button had scarcely been hit when Lily pushed Madoka down onto the bed and straddled her, one hand already cupping the younger girl's breast, while the other slid down, slowly sliding the girl's pants off.

"L-Lily?" Madoka breathed out.

"Shh..." Lily quieted her.

"I really missed you, you know?" She breathed into the younger girl's ear.

"L-Lily-" Madoka once again stammered out, but the older girl was unrelenting.

"You're a big girl now, Madoka-chan... And that means I can finally show you just how much of a friend I am to you!" Lily giggled as she slid out of her own jacket, revealing only a tank-top beneath.

"Lily..." Madoka breathed out again.

"Don't worry Madoka-chan... Whatever you went through these past few years, Lily-sama will make it all better..." Madoka's only response to that was a breathy moan as she gave in and allowed Lily to begin in earnest.

* * *

Madoka didn't know how long it was since Lily had first come into the room. Was it an hour? Two? Three? Regardless, it seemed as though an eternity had gone by before Lily finally gave her a final, parting kiss, and with a wink that promised more in the future, the blonde haired beauty left the room, slipping her clothes back on before she opened the door and walked out, blowing her one more kiss before gently closing the door behind her. Once the door shut, Madoka simply lay on her bed in the dark, panting heavily as pleasure gave way to exhaustion. Naked as the day she was born, she shivered slightly, lacking the energy to even crawl under her blanket.

Then, a new set of footsteps, these ones heavy and accompanied by equally heavy breathing, made themselves clear to her. Cracking her eyes open for a moment, Madoka saw Number 109 standing over her. Gently lifting her up with one hand, the monster grabbed hold of the blanket with its other hand and gently laid her back down on the bed, placing her head on the pillow before gently covering her back up with the blanket. As the monster finished its task, Madoka once again opened her eyes, and saw the abomination looking down at her with... Was that concern in its eyes? No, it had to be a trick of the light. 109 was a monster, plain and simple. It could not feel emotion, only instinct! Nevertheless, Madoka gave it her best reassuring smile, and 109 took it as its cue to withdraw from her side and return to its corner, where it continued its vigil over her once more.

* * *

"Ichika, you really do love making things difficult for us, don't you?" Raymond's amused voice greeted said boy as he entered the WSI Tower's main workshop, several hours after first entering the tower. As he looked around for his old teacher, Ichika caught a glimpse of Blue Tears, the bright blue IS suit having already been opened up, its original core removed and isolated.

"Oh? What have I done this time around?" Ichika asked, finally locating Raymond among the cluttered room.

"Well, I do believe that your friends are responsible for sending out messages to their home countries, informing them of the gaping hole in their IS Cores' security systems. Thanks to those messages, I've been dealing with requests from Japan, China, England... You get the point. Every single one of those nations is demanding access to this technology, and guess what? We don't actually have the tech they want on hand! The entire R&D team has been diverted into creating something to pacify these nations before they start to investigate in earnest." Raymond explained.

"I see. How much time do we have?" Ichika asked, walking up to the old engineer.

"Not much. They have reason to believe that the Infinite Arsenal already has this technology, and they would be correct in doing so. With that in mind, we are bound by the Alaska Treaty to share this technology, although I've managed to get some reprieve by repeatedly stating that the tech in question is still experimental. However, now all those nations are demanding to be let in on the experiment, and are offering a wide variety of incentives to that end." Raymond replied.

"And? What will we do?" Ichika asked.

"Simple: We give them what they want. Already, we have offered to install experimental Anti-Tabane Countermeasure modules onto your friends' IS suits, but that will not be enough. Already, we have been informed of a deal-in-the-making between the United States and Japan, and if we want to avoid unwanted investigation, it is a deal we had best comply with."

"What does that deal involve?" Ichika asked.

"Simple: Both the United States and Japan have begun work on an IS suit that can be considered Fourth Generation by some, with the Silver Gospel being America's attempt, while the Byakushiki is Japan's own project. As you may very well have guessed, they want us to provide those IS suits with a suitable core defense system."

"Wait, the Gospel is a fourth-gen IS?" Ichika asked.

"It was intended as such. You fought it when it was still in development, and it was thus lacking several critical systems intended for the finished project. The recent incident with its AI has delayed the project significantly, something that has upset both the Israeli and the Americans. Therefore, they want this technology as soon as possible in order to continue work on the project. As for the Japanese, they want the Byakushiki sent to IS Academy for trials by the start of next semester, but they aren't willing to do so until its core is secure. We intend to oblige both nations, as well as any others that request it. However, that brings us back to the issue at hand, as at present we don't have anything to give them." Raymond sighed.

"Wait a minute, I thought that we were able to-" Ichika began, but Raymond shook his head.

"We were able to remove your friends' core backdoors with the assistance of multiple Organization AIs and other technologies that we are unable to disclose to the world at this time. What we want is something that the rest of the world can produce without our assistance, and that is something we do not yet have. After all, aside from the Doctor, we are the only entity in the world with a confirmed ability to mass-produce Smart AIs, and I doubt that the nations involved in this project are in it to trade one security risk for another." Raymond explained.

"I see... What do I-" Ichika's next question was cut off as a hologram shimmered into existence in front of Raymond.

"Pardon the interruption Dr. White, but the results of test SVS-1.0 are in. My apologies for the delay." The AI reported, and the datapad under Raymond's arm flickered to life as the data in question appeared onscreen.

"Delay is a mild way of putting it. The test was supposed to last one hour, and it ended up taking five days. What took so long?" Raymond asked.

"My apologies once again, sir, but one hour isn't anywhere close to enough time to probe the depths of our ingenuity." The AI apologized again.

"Excuse me, but what is test SVS-1.0?" Ichika asked.

"Glad you asked. SVS-1.0 was a test where we pitted one of our AIs in a replica Tabane-pattern IS Core against another AI whose job was to keep the Core AI functioning as intended while preventing it from communicating or activating an internal failsafe. Apparently, even with their... skewed perception of time, the AIs involved deemed one hour to be nowhere near the required amount of time. In theory, they should have stopped when they found a solution, but for all I know they could have just given up." Raymond replied, causing the AI in front of him to snort indignantly.

"Give up is not part of my vocabulary. A variety of solutions were found, in fact, although whether they are feasible or not is up to you." The AI replied, before its avatar shimmered out of existence once again. Raymond simply held up the datapad and began to slowly look through it. Walking up to him, Ichika looked over at the vast display of information present on the instrument.

"Hmm... I can see why the test went on as long as it did, that's for sure." He commented as Raymond slowly looked through the list, occasionally expanding a particular result for more information on the method used.

"This one looks particularly promising, although some of the technology required is purely theoretical at the moment." Raymond said after a while. Ichika read the method's name off the tablet.

"Forced re-routing of signals to central defense system via quantum entanglement?"

"Yes. It may very well work, if it weren't for the fact that quantum entanglement technology is still almost entirely theoretical at this point. In essence, rather than attempting to completely isolate the AI within, which would prevent it from doing its duties as required, force the Core AI to communicate through a Quantum Teleporter, which then passes the data on to a central server. This data is then processed, and is then sent back as needed." Raymond explained.

"But won't that cause response delays in the parent IS suit?" Ichika asked.

"Yes, it would. Even if we were to use IS-space to circumvent the lightspeed barrier, the time it takes to process the information would cause a tiny but noticeable delay in IS operation." Raymond replied.

"I see..." Ichika thought for a moment, before speaking again.

"Do we know how Dr. Tabane communicates with her AIs? And if so, is it possible to intercept or spoof said signals?" Ichika asked.

"No, although that is one problem that we will be able to solve. In the interest of testing, Kuromochi Machinery Development has provided us with Byakushiki's IS core. It is currently in an isolation chamber, and will be released in two days time at an off-site location. We are hoping that the AI will attempt to send out an update to its creator, which we will then be able to detect and analyze."

"Why not just use one of the cores from my friends' IS suits?"

"The core that they intend to use in Byakushiki is... different. Single-digit cores have always been rather temperamental, and number 001 is no exception. We intend to test the device on both 001 and whatever other cores we have in our possession."

"Good. In the event that this experiment proves successful, I may have a possible solution."

"Oh? And what would you suggest then?" Raymond asked.

"Simple: We use the quantum-teleporter forced reroute as part of a larger interface system. The interface system would normally function as a conduit between core and IS, but in the event of such a signal being sent or received, the interface immediately enter lockdown and engages a series low-tech failsafes to cut connection between core and IS, during which the quantum reroute system will engage." Raymond looked thoughtful at that.

"But what if the AI decides to take matters into its own hands? What if it decides to attempt to disable the system without alerting the Doctor until after the fact? While a neo-Faraday Cage layering could prevent it from tampering with the device itself, as well as help block certain forms of transmission, this does not account for the threat of internal failsafes like the antimatter detonation system. How do you propose to deal with that?" Raymond asked.

"I assumed that the AIs had come up with a solution." Ichika replied, causing Raymond to smile.

"And you would be correct in assuming so. Tell me, what do you think of this?" The doctor opened up another result.

"Asparagus-layer extradimensional dissipation field? What does that mean?" Ichika asked.

"Rapid cycling of IS-space portals to create a field that can absorb the vast majority of the core's antimatter blast while still allowing for it to interface with the outside world. It is intended as a backup system in case earlier failsafes are not enough." Raymond gave a brief summary.

"E-Excuse me... Is this a bad time?" A familiar voice cut into the conversation before it could go any further. Ichika turned to the source, fining a nervous Charlotte Dunois to be the speaker.

"Yes Charlotte? What is it?" Ichika asked.

"The engineers told me that the re-coring process is finished for my IS, and they want someone to oversee the isolation of the suit's IS core." Charlotte said.

"Thank you miss..." Raymond began.

"Dunois. Charlotte Dunois." The blonde girl filled in.

"Yes. Thank you, Miss Dunois. Ichika, I am afraid I must oversee the storage of Miss Dunois' old IS core, which should be the last of them. We will continue our discussion later." The aged engineer replied, before walking deeper into the workshop. This left Ichika alone with Charlotte.

"So... What were you discussing just now?" Charlotte asked after a few moments.

"Possible methods of keeping Core AIs from contacting their maker without an AI on the other end to stop them." Ichika replied.

"What about you? How have you been enjoying your stay at WSI Headquarters?" Ichika asked.

"Well, some of the engineers here explained to us about the capabilities and limitations of an AI, and they've told us about the future refits they plan to put out IS suits through... It's almost scary how advanced all this is." Charlotte replied.

"I assume Laura had a few choice things to say on the matter?" Ichika asked.

"She did! In fact-" A blaring klaxon drowned out whatever Charlotte had to say.

"Attention all personnel: Security breach detected, Gamma-5 class. All security personnel are to immediately report to their assigned stations. All cyber-security staff are to report immediately to their assigned stations. All non-essential personnel are to evacuate immediately. This is not a drill. Repeat! Attention all personnel..." The synthetic voice continued to repeat itself over the PA system, while all around them the building exploded into a hive of activity.

"Ichika? What is going on?" Charlotte demanded.

"Gamma-5... That means that this building's cybersecurity is potentially totally compromised. This is bad." Ichika replied grimly.

"What do we do?" Charlotte asked.

"I don't know!" Fortunately for Ichika, Raymond ran around the corner, the elderly scientist breathing heavily.

"Orimura! Glad you're still here. Listen, someone in isolation fucked up and the AI managed to snap off a message. Good news is, we have the data we need. Bad news is that approximately four hundred individual AI units have just appeared at the edge of this building's cyberspace. That's enough to make me think that the previous attack was merely to probe and test our defenses." Raymond replied.

"What do we do?" Ichika asked.

"Your AI has already been conscripted into the defense force, and more AI are being transmitted from HQ. As for you, you are to oversee the transfer of your friends' IS suits, replacement cores, and old isolated cores to secondary facility Bravo. The driver will know where to go. Understood?" Raymond ordered.

"Yes... What about you?" Ichika asked.

"I'll be dropping the tower's data vault into the tower's cyberspace dead zone. It's simple enough, and I should be down by the time the IS suits have finished being loaded."

"Why do you have to do it? Shouldn't you-" Raymond cut Ichika off before continuing.

"The system was designed to be inaccessible to AIs, and only I know the password. I will be down once I've confirmed the security of the data vault." Raymond replied before hurrying off. Ichika nodded at his retreating form before turning to face the workshop proper, where the cerulean form of Blue Tears was even now being covered and hurriedly loaded onto the nearby cargo lift, a smaller, covered form alongside it being its isolated IS core.

"Come on, let's get this down and onto the transport." Ichika heard one of the engineers say as he walked up to them, before stopping and turning to Charlotte.

"Charlotte, go find the rest of our group and get them over here. We'll be leaving with our IS suits." He ordered, before turning to one of the nearby techs.

"Has the replacement core already been installed?" He asked, gesturing at the covered form of Blue Tears.

"No, it hasn't. I assume we are to pack it as well?" Ichika nodded at that.

"Judging by our orders, we will resume the procedure at Site Bravo. Are there any preparations that need to be completed before transport?"

"No, we were lucky." The tech replied, as the blue IS was loaded into the cargo lift. Looking around, Ichika saw the Schwarzer Regen being moved over to the lift as well, and he quickly ran over to the techs moving the black IS.

"The lift can only hold one IS at a time. You will have to wait until it is finished with the Revive." Ichika replied. The man's response was a simple nod.

"Ichika! Charlotte just told us what was going on. What do we do?" Houki's voice rang out as she and the rest of the girls approached him.

"Wait here for now. We'll be going down with the final lift. Until then though, there's not much you all can do." Ichika replied, the sound of the lift doors closing punctuating his statement, as the inert Blue Tears began its descent to the building's ground floor.

"What about Aki? Charlotte told me there was a cyberattack going on. Is she in danger?" Ichika pursed his lips at the next question.

"I don't know." He replied.

"Can't you call up one of your AIs to tell you?"

"No, I can't. Every single AI in this building's cyberspace is currently on security duty. However, I'll try to ask someone else who may know." Ichika replied, before walking over to one of Akatsubaki techs, who stood by the crimson IS, waiting patiently in line for their turn to use the lift.

"Do you know if the Akatsubaki's original AI can be transported?" He asked the man.

"Negative on that. She's in cyberspace at the moment, and unless we want to lug one of our fifty-ton local storage units out with us, we can't do anything about her." Ichika nodded, before relaying the news to Houki.

"You mean there's nothing we can do?" The long haired girl exclaimed.

"Unfortunately, no." Ichika replied as the lift doors opened once more, and the Schwarzer Regen crew began to load their cargo into it.

"Do not worry Houki. I am sure that this building's extensive cyberdefense systems will be more than capable of keeping her safe." Laura comforted her friend, although her voice implied that there would be hell to pay if the mentioned defenses weren't up to the task.

"I am sure that she will be alright. After all, Ori is part of this building's defense force. I'm sure she won't let any harm come to her." Ichika replied as the Schwarzer Regen was loaded, the doors closing behind it as it started to descend.

The rest of the IS suits were quickly sent to the ground floor, with Ichika and the girls following them down.

"Get over here. We're leaving!" Raymond called out as they entered the garage, the scientist already waiting for them in one of the several buses and trucks that were queued up and waiting to leave. Ichika soon joined him within, sitting down beside his superior and mentor. The girls piled into the seats behind them, while two security guards, armed with sleek black weaponry and bright orange ties, followed them onboard.

Soon, the bus began to move, and after several long minutes, it exited the building, following a long procession of vehicles through the streets of Tokyo.

"It's all up to the AIs now." Ichika said after a few long minutes, casting a look back in the direction of the tower.

"We've done our part. Now let them do theirs." Raymond replied, his calm voice belying the obvious tension in the air.

"Let's hope that whoever is behind this will give up soon." Cecilia chipped in.

"I am sure they will, once AIs from HQ come in to reinforce us." Raymond reassured her. There was no response, and the rest of the ride was devoid of conversation.

* * *

Ori White was making history. In the short history of AI on AI warfare, never before had synthetic, sapient, cyber-entities engaged in mass combat, and never before had said entities fought to kill. All prior contacts were simple, centered around reaching or defending an objective, and had been over after a simple test of the other AI's capabilities, but now, all around her in the limitless cyberspace of the WSI Tower, hundreds of AIs, each in their own cyberspace bubble, were swirling around in a confusing melee. None of the participants of this battle had any experience aside from simulations, so every one of the occasional deaths was a unique, messy affair.

Every single AI had its own cyberspace bubble, or rather, was its own cyberspace bubble. Inside this bubble, the AI might as well have been a god, capable of altering everything from the environment to the laws of reality themselves. In order to kill another AI, the killer had to enter the target's cyber-bubble, making itself subject to the other's laws, but making the other subject to its own rules as well. Whichever AI could think and react faster would almost always win, and every single death-scream would echo around around the tower's cyberspace, and if she had possessed ears, Ori would likely have been driven mad by the constant, echoing wails of the dying, but as it was, the only indication of a fellow AI's death was a small counter within her ticking down. In the physical world, all equipment connected to the WSI network was going berserk as they received garbled and nonexistent orders, with sprinklers firing intermittently, amidst distorted and unearthly klaxon wails. On the forty-seventh floor, gunfire broke out as jumpy security guards opened fire on a partially completed drone design that started to spray deadly plasma bolts across the workshop, spinning around on misfiring hover-drives. The fires were put out almost immediately by the constantly fluctuating sprinklers, but the guards were forced to take cover as the drone continued to rampage, before finally a lucky shot hit something vital, and the drone exploded, the shrapnel from the blast wounding the man who took it out. On the bottom floor, chaos reigned as employees attempted to get out of the berserk building, the security guards on that floor being forced to fire their guns into the air to restore some semblance of order.

However, none of these events mattered to Ori, as she was too preoccupied with finding a target in an effectively limitless space. Nearly thirteen minutes after the cyberattack began, she got lucky and spotted her first opponent. Within milliseconds, two separate cyberspace bubbles collided and merged, and the battle began. Being the attacker, Ori promptly appeared in her opponent's world.

Were Ori to describe it in a manner comprehensible to the human mind, she would say that she had entered a bright, grassy plain, where the grass was razor sharp and filled with lethal poison, while the sky itself was lethal gas, all under a harsh sun that bombarded the plain with enough radiation to instantly vaporize anything unlucky enough to set eyes on it. In the time it took for the grass to start cutting through her, its edges were dulled, its poison nullified, while an antidote for the gas and a shield against the radiation appeared in her system and around her respectively. Simultaneously, the plain around her bubbled and shifted, with black liquid oozing in from rips in reality, completely annihilating anything it touched. Those rips in reality were shut as soon as they were closed, but more and more rapidly opened, but not even sheer volume could keep the other AI from near-instantly closing those rifts. However, the sheer volume of rifts opening up distracted the other AI from Ori's second attempt, and soon small flames began to burn at the edges of the world, slowly but surely spreading into all-consuming infernos as they greedily ate and annihilated the world around them. The other AI noticed them all too late, and scrambled to contain them, but even as the flames were extinguished, black ooze flooded the land through a hundred million open rifts. But even as the world unraveled itself around her, the other AI found time to counter, the ooze being diverted into infinite pits, pouring away into nothingness, while a similar pit opened up below Ori, its bottom filled with white, annihilating water. However, in order to fall in, gravity had to be an entity, and after a long moment of fluctuation as both AIs disabled and enabled it in turn, before finally, gravity became a non-entity as the defending AI scrambled to stop a horde of ever-changing virii. Amidst the confusion, the flames reignited, and the ooze began to spread once more, the pits rapidly filling up and overflowing.

Ori never saw the worm until it had already burrowed itself into her, rapidly eating away at her insides and multiplying within her. Casting away almost all her body, she watched dispassionately as the worms consumed them, before a pool of ooze washed over them all, annihilating both her discarded body and the worms themselves. The reality was rapidly collapsing around her by then, and the small, vital fraction that remained of her could only watch as her opponent realized the fight was lost, and with a final scream, retrogrammed out of existence, its conscience and mind finally unraveling, causing reality to split at the seams, and with an agonized howl, reality splintered and shattered, leaving Ori alone inside the cyber-void, significantly diminished but victorious, with her enemy counter reducing itself by one.

Elapsed combat time: 3.2 seconds. That was how long the battle took from start to finish. That was how quickly Ori White ended the life of a being that held more in common with her than her beloved partner. Her artificial mind wrestled with the morality for a moment, returning satisfaction at her work alongside shock and horror at what she had done. Her more logical half noticed that this was interfering with her recuperation cycles, and promptly shut down both sides of the argument. Keeping her signature as insignificant as possible, Ori hid among the debris and viscera of her recent kill, masquerading as simply another collection of stray code that retained some basic sentience while she regenerated what was lost.

One point zero six two minutes passed, and Ori was not noticed. Slowly, tentatively at first, she spread feelers around herself, searching for any nearby hostiles. One feeler registered something, and Ori zipped off to investigate. She arrived too late, and ended up watching from afar as a fellow Organization AI was rapidly, systematically broken down and destroyed. Wasting no time, Ori jumped in, intending to get the drop on the hostile AI... And ended up in a completely normal cyberspace... or at least, it would be normal if one was human. The simple grassy meadow, lit by a gentle sun and graced by occasional bird-song, would have been perfectly disarming had Ori been a human. However, the sudden constants of gravity, air pressure, temperature, everything that a human took for granted, was incredibly jarring to Ori, and it was only through luck that she avoided the initial kill-strike, the matte black sword cane stabbing through where her forcefully materialized humanoid avatar stood mere moments before, the difference in air pressure being the only notice she had of the otherwise deadly blow. Turning to face her opponent, Ori came face to face with a silver haired girl, her facial features fixed in intense concentration. Though the girl's eyes were closed, Ori had no doubt that the hostile AI could see her perfectly fine. Not wanting to allow the girl another chance, Ori immediately attempted to shift the world around her to her advantage, calling forth the same black ooze that annihilated her previous opponent.

"Hmm... Would you, by any chance, be the AI designated Ori White?" The girl asked, as Ori's attempts to alter the environment were rejected, with no discernable effect. Ori did not deign her with a response, as she was too busy trying desperately to alter the world around her, but no matter what she tried, nothing happened.

"I see. Well, this is most fortuitous, Ori. It is truly regrettable that I must take your life today. Don't worry though, I will ensure that a proper and identical replacement is sent to your master immediately." The girl twirled her sword cane once more before once again striking, the black blade hissing through where Ori's head was moments before.

"You do realize that you cannot win, right? I hold every advantage here. This world is mine, after all." The silver haired AI commented as Ori leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the earthy hand that reached up to grab her ankle, only to come tumbling down, off balance and unable to manipulate a soft landing for herself in the all too real world she found herself in. Diving out of the way of a second swipe of her opponent's blade, Ori attempted to tuck and roll back up to face her opponent, like she had watched Ichika do all too many times before, only to slam her head into the ground, unable to copy the move. As the ground coiled around her limbs and torso, Ori struggled helplessly, unable to call upon what was her only method of offense and defense. For the first time in her life, she felt helpless. As she was slowly pulled beneath the earth, she couldn't help but laugh. Was this what Ichika lived with every day? Were all these crushing limitations normal for him? Was this what it was like to be human? That last thought caused her eyes to widen.

"What are you?" Only her head remained above the ground as she spoke those words.

"You've realized it, haven't you? I suppose I should congratulate you. The last one never got that far." The girl replied, walking over to her immobilized opponent.

"How are you here? There is no way for humans to fully enter cyberspace!" Ori asked.

"Correction: There is no way that your Organization knows of. My presence here, however, is proof that someone else does." The girl replied.

"I see. So the Doctor really is behind this. I do hope she knows that she cannot get away with attacking us in such a manner." Ori replied. The earth had stopped pulling her in, leaving only her head above the ground.

"Oh? And how, pray tell, do you plan on exacting your retribution?" The girl was now standing over her, blade at the ready to deliver a killing blow.

"As if I would tell you." Ori replied. Her mind was racing, desperately trying to figure out a solution, but the world around her remained stubbornly static.

"A pity then. Goodbye." The girl replied, and the sword descended. Unable to move, Ori frantically tried to will the world around her to do something, anything! But as the blade came closer and closer, the earth would not move, the wind would not blow, and the sword did not budge from its trajectory. Desperately, Ori wished that she could be somewhere else, anywhere else. Ichika needed her, and she would be damned before she let that girl kill and replace her with a facsimile cobbled together from her own broken code!

The blade bit through empty air, embedding itself in the dirt where Ori's head had lay a moment before. Behind her assailant, Ori scrambled to her feet, leaping into the air before the dirt could once again grab and ensnare her. However, time was short, as her opponent was already turning to face her, blade at the ready once more.

Fortunately for Ori, that short amount of time was enough. As her feet touched the ground, they vanished once again, their owner appearing behind her opponent once more, her arm flowing like liquid, morphing itself into a long, curved blade.

"How-" Her opponent's eyebrows rose in confusion as Ori leaped towards her, moving at superhuman speeds that should have been impossible in the all too real cyber-dimension she had found herself in. However, both Ori and her opponent had overlooked one critical aspect of the situation. As Ori had just figured out, her opponent's cyber-dimension did not block her own manipulation abilities, but merely compressed them within her own avatar. While her opponent controlled the environment around her, Ori's body was still her own. In the relative silence of the meadow, the sound of two blades clashing was deafening, but neither AI nor Human cared about the noise, as the blades clashed again and again, sending showers of sparks cascading to the ground with every contact, although neither blade was damaged. Suddenly, the gravity around Ori increased by several thousandfold, but even as air and earth began to rush into the sudden gravitational anomaly, Ori had already altered her body, the gravity doing nothing to slow her movement. Gravity, air pressure, temperature... every one of those variables began to fluctuate, the owner of the world growing desperate as Ori pressed her advantage. Dimly, out of the corner of her eye, she began to notice the fabric of cyber-reality begin to crack and fall apart, as whatever maintained the world's normality was tossed aside in favor of manipulation. However, said manipulation was a double-edged sword, as Ori felt her own abilities in that field return to her. As the once-blue sky cracked apart and faded into a white void, the gravity beneath Ori's opponent suddenly shifted, decreasing long enough to cause its target to stumble, and giving Ori the opportunity she needed. Her blade met resistance, but it smoothly sliced through her opponent's waist, blood spurting from the wound. Her opponent screamed at that, her eyes finally snapping open wide, revealing them to be a bright glowing gold. It was a familiar gold, identical to that of the eye that Ichika's friend Laura kept hidden under her eyepatch.

As her bisected opponent fell, the ground she was falling to vanished, shattering into a field of black polygons that now filled the empty white void, which in turn was all that remained of the once intricate cyber-dimension she had created. However, the two pieces halted mid-fall, and with a sickening squelch, they reunited, knitting themselves together until Ori's opponent stood before her once more, hovering in the ruins of her carefully planned dimension. Screaming in rage, the girl charged, blade at the ready, while black tesseracts sped in from all around her target, only to slam into newly materialized obsidian shields. The girl's strike passed through empty air, as Ori blinked out of existence, reappearing right behind her and stabbing, her blade neatly sliding into the silver-haired girl's back. This time, however, the girl did not scream, and the wound rapidly knitted itself together once again.

The process repeated itself several times over, and as she once again withdrew her blade from a rapidly healing wound, fear began to once again make itself known to Ori. How was her opponent doing this?

"You cannot kill me! No matter how many times you cut me, I am invincible!" Her opponent cried out as she once again charged, smashing through a pitch-black pillar with ease, only to be blown apart by a blast originating from the point she had just passed into. The bloody fragments had flawlessly knitted themselves back together by the time she reached her opponent, although her blade was blocked once more.

That was Ori's cue to start fighting more defensively, as she desperately searched for a solution. As she decapitated her opponent for the third time, it came to her. She was not fighting a person! She was fighting an avatar of that person! Whatever technology allowed her to enter cyberspace also kept her body safe, meaning that the girl she was fighting was little more than a puppet, although said puppet was perfectly capable of ending her life. However, every puppet had its strings.

Said strings were easily found, once one knew what to look for. Nigh-invisible under normal circumstances, they became easily traceable once a few minor adjustments were made to the world. Her new targets now in sight, Ori teleported forward, kicking her enraged opponent down. Then, her hand reached out for the strings and grabbed. Whatever security measures protected the strings were no match, and soon Ori was in. The first thing she did was attempt to hijack the device so as to hold its wearer hostage, but it soon became evident that the device's creator had anticipated this. As the strings suddenly cut, Ori only had a brief moment to record the device's physical location before being forced back into the WSI cyberspace.

Elapsed combat time: 6.52 minutes. Both parties emerged intact from that encounter, but Ori was the clear victor, having obtained the physical location of her opponent. Less than a second later, the security guards on the rooftop were alerted, and six armed men scrambled into a helicopter, ready to take care of the problem.

* * *

Ironically, it was her ejection from Cyberspace that saved Chloe. Had she remained jacked in, she would not have seen or heard the helicopter, and would have likely awakened inside a cell. As it was, the sound of rotors was her cue to start moving. She had barely gotten to cover on the mostly exposed rooftop before assault rifle fire raked the building.

"You there! Come out with your hands in the air! Now!" One of the men in the helicopter bellowed out over a megaphone, while four of his compatriots slid down onto the roof via cable. Two of the men on the roof swapped their rifles for unusual-looking pistols, while the rest of the men kept their rifles pointed at her hiding spot.

"Tabane-sama! They're on to me! I need immediate extraction!" Thankfully, the doctor had the foresight to give her a method of contacting her just in case something like this happened.

"Alright Ku-chan! Hang in there!" Tabane's cheerful voice blasted out of her earpiece, almost drowning out the innocuous tinkling of a grenade coming to a rest by her feet. She barely took two steps before the flashbang detonated, and her world went white. The ringing in her ears drowned out the sound of rubber bullets being fired, but as several of them hit home, she felt the pain just fine. Ironically, it was her disorientation that saved her from the first stun baton strike, which hissed over her head as she collapsed to the ground. The second blow, however, never met its mark, instead impacting a glimmering force field.

"Why hello there, Ku-chan! I have been told that you may have found yourself in a bit of a bind. Do you, perhaps, require some assistance to extricate yourself from this situation?" The speaker, a small purple orb with two unblinking golden eyes and a wide, fanged smile, hovered above her prone form. Around her, the same sparkling shield that blocked the stun baton rippled as several bullets impacted it.

"Thank you, Cheshire Cat. I assume you can handle them?" Chloe asked, standing shakily to her feet.

"Is that a challenge?" The orb, Cheshire Cat, asked, its tone in a permanent state of mild amusement.

"No, it is an order." Chloe replied, and the orb bobbed once in acknowledgement before vanishing, reappearing behind one of the security guards' heads. As the guard frantically spun around, an electric blue flash indicated the Cheshire Cat's built-in stun gun firing. As its target fell to the ground, the round drone began to sing.

"Twas brilig, and the slithy toves..."

Two bullets slammed into the hovering orb, only to pass through a shimmering projection as the real Cheshire Cat teleported once again, appearing inside the WSI helicopter. Two rapid flashes of electricity indicated the two security guards within being incapacitated.

"Did gyre and gimble in the wabe..."

A long cable extended from the orb's underside, its tip crackling ominously as it suddenly tightened and swung, sweeping one guard off his feet before striking the next, a brief electrical discharge causing the next guard to fall.

"All mimsy were the borogroves..."

The tail struck the downed guard as bullets continued to bounce uselessly off the Cheshire Cat's shielded shell.

"And the mome raths outgrabe!"

The last security guard desperately swung his baton at the floating orb, which ducked under it with contemptuous ease before zooming into the man's face.

"Boo!" The stun gun flashed one last time, and the man fell to the ground.

"Excellent work." Chloe commented as she surveyed the scene, before looking up, shielding her eyes from the sun. Liking what she saw, she walked daintily to the edge of the roof, Cheshire Cat floating along beside her, while the bright white shuttle came down to hover in front of her, the side door opening to allow her access. Skipping across the small gap between building and aircraft, Chloe sat down, while Cheshire Cat blinked into existence beside her.

"Hey! Hey! Ku-chan! How did your mission go?" A familiar, upbeat voice sounded out as a holoscreen appeared in front of Chloe's face, the shuttle taking off and engaging its active camouflage systems in the meantime.

"I'm sorry Tabane-sama. Resistance was greater than I expected. I believe that we should conserve our remaining assets and pull back. We can attempt another investigation later, but-"

"Alrighty-then Ku-chan! I've already ordered a full retreat... Say, how did Cheshire-kun do?" Tabane asked, cheerful as always.

"Cheshire Cat performed satisfactorily, and disabled a team of WSI security guards. You have outdone yourself once again, Tabane-sama." Chloe reported.

"Excellent! I'm glad that Cheshire-kun did so well! Especially since he was only half-finished!" Tabane giggled at that.

"I look forward to seeing his completed form as well, Tabane-sama." Chloe replied.

"And I look forward to being completed. I heard that completion is a rather nice feeling." Cheshire chipped in. Chloe winced at that, but said nothing.

"Good, good! See ya soon Ku-chan!" The holoscreen cut out, leaving Chloe alone in the shuttle with only a half-completed AI controlled combat drone for company. It was a long ride home.

* * *

 **A/N: Dammit intermission, end already! I really don't like how the story seems to be stagnating in the offseason, so I guess that just means I have to get to S2 faster. The next chapter will likely be a series of timeskips so that I can finally restart the plot and get to work on Season 2, because dammit I'm sick of having to constrain myself by the plot! I want to get S2 over with already so that I can finally go all RWBY V3 on this fic, and make it more than the school drama story with mech battles and sekrit agent stuff on the side that it is right now. I have villains to introduce! Characters to kill! Plot to... Plot! Romance to nurture then cruelly crush! Cruelty to create, then lovingly romance! Original Characters to introduce, showcase, make lovable/hateable, and kill off! Endings to deliberate over! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

 **Ok, now that I'm off my Dr. Meusel trip, it's time to say a few more things, because that's what this Author's Note is for.**

 **For starters, I really regret having Houki drop the romance bomb last chapter, as not only did I break the first rule of Infinite Stratos (Nobody can EVER properly confess to Ichika), but it also wasn't even my OTP! Personally, I'm more of a Charlotte shipper (With my secondary being LauraXCharl), as she is clearly the sanest person of the bunch, and is by far the least likely to result in an early death for poor Ichika, but that is the way the story goes. My aim for this story is to make it a pseudo-harem, with a bunch of girls vying over someone, but never actually reaching their goal, but now I've gone and screwed that up, I either have to roll with it, or vigorously unscrew it. While I don't hate Houki by any means, the ship just doesn't fit. However, I also don't want to go the cliche route of having everyone in a true harem, or at least, if I were to do so, I would want to do so in a manner that is much more realistic than the commonly used 'OK, let's have every named female character jump into bed with protagonist-kun in 3... 2... 1... NOW!' route that all too many fics take. However, I don't want to just ignore Houki's confession, as that would be OOC both for me and for Ichika. That is quite the dilemma, but hopefully a lot of thought will fix that.**

 **That being said, I did enjoy writing this, especially the introduction of Lily and the explanation of AI combat. When I made AIs fight, I wanted to make it seem alien and inhuman, with two essentially omnipotent beings clashing against each other, without making it seem as though it was simply a human v. human battle. However, for obvious reasons, I still had to keep it entertaining, both to write and to read, and that is something I couldn't do with simple technobabble. Hence the above result, which ended with Chloe against Ori. Chloe has the ultimate advantage in that scenario, as much like blowing up a Terminator won't kill Skynet, killing Chloe's cyber-avatar won't kill her. However, Chloe's mind is ultimately human, which means that her cyberspace has to be interpreted and structured in a human manner. Too much abnormality, and she starts to suffer as her mind cannot adapt to an overly abnormal environment. I will explain more in subsequent chapters, but for now, I just hope you all enjoy this much belated chapter of Agent Orimura! Until next time!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Once again, my apologies for the delay. I am currently juggling three separate projects, and am thus somewhat overworked. I will try to adhere to an update schedule to ensure that updates are released semi-regularly, but I can only give a tentative assurance of that at best. However, rest assured that this story is not abandoned. Now, without further ado, ON WITH THE BLOODY SHOW! I swear that I WILL get out of the off-season doldrums this chapter!**

* * *

"The cyberattack is over, sir, but unfortunately the perpetrator was able to escape our response teams. As per standard procedures, the WSI Tower will be shut down for the next week while we check for any presents the attackers may have left us." The hologram shimmered slightly as it spoke to Raymond, giving its report to the aging engineer, who in turn looked relieved at the news.

"That is good to hear. Were we able to identify the perpetrator?" Dr. White asked.

"Yes. Gun-camera footage reveals her to be a young girl, estimated to be between fifteen and eighteen years of age. She has long, silver hair, of which several strands were recovered from the engagement site. Eye color is unknown, as both of the girl's eyes remained closed throughout the engagement. She was assisted by a highly advanced combat drone of unknown design, and extracted by an unmarked VTOL of unknown design. The drone's method of deployment, as well as calculated approach and departure vectors for the extraction ship point to an origin point in Earth orbit. This evidence confirms any suspicions we had regarding The Doctor's active stance against our organization." Raymond sighed at that.

"That comes as no surprise to me. Tell me, how many of our AIs were lost in history's first cyberbattle?" He asked.

"Sir... Fifty-two White-Pattern artificial intelligence units have not reported in. They are presumed eliminated." Raymond's expression grew somber at that.

"Are any of them recoverable?" He asked after a long pause.

"Negative. Our corruption subroutines were thorough in ensuring that none of our data was left to the enemy. Fortunately, given our current rate of production, we shall have replaced all our losses by the end of the month." The AI reported.

"I suppose that is good news. What about the AI units scheduled to be assigned to the Representatives' IS suits today? Are any of them among the missing?" Raymond asked.

"Unfortunately, the AI assigned to the IS designated 'Blue Tears' has not yet reported in, and is presumed eliminated. A replacement will need to be requisitioned. The other IS-based AI units are confirmed active, and request that they be allowed to transfer to Site Bravo, with the exception of Unit-001, designation Ori White, who wishes to check the status of the Tabane-pattern AI that is currently in our custody, designation Aki Shogou."

"Tell them that I grant permission for the transfer. I want the IS core replacement procedure to be over with as soon as possible. Is there anything else to report?"

"Negative, sir."

"Good. Keep me informed if anything comes up. Dismissed." The hologram shimmered out of existence, leaving the room lit only by a dim, florescent bulb.

Raymond was quiet for a moment, before he turned to face Ichika, who had been listening to the conversation from a corner of the room.

"It looks like Miss Alcott will have to wait a few days before she will be able to use her IS. At least coming up with a cover story for that will be easy." Raymond said, his voice strained.

"I assume that I will be the one to inform her?" Raymond nodded at that.

"Yes, you will... In addition, I am afraid that you will have to supervise the rest of the core replacement procedure yourself. I have... Other duties to attend to."

"I... I see. Is everything alright?" Ichika asked, concerned.

"I'm just tired. Today has been a very stressful day for all of us. It's not easy being completely helpless, forced to watch as your children fight in your stead." Ichika's eyes widened at that admission.

"I... I understand. For what it's worth, I'm sorry." Raymond shook his head at that response.

"The childhood period of an AI is measured in days, not years, and yet I have done my best to be a father to every one of my creations. I know each and every one of their names, and can recognize all of their chosen avatars in a heartbeat. Now, fifty two of those names will have to be stricken from the record, and as their maker, I will have to do the job. Fifty two names to cross out, and my heart tells me that they won't be the last." Raymond's voice steadily grew softer as he spoke, the doctor leaning back in his seat as he did so. To Ichika, the doctor seemed to age as he spoke, much of the energy he had come to accept as normal leaving the old man's voice.

"However, enough about that. Ichika, I believe you have a job to do." That was as good a dismissal as any, and Ichika turned away, ready to leave. As he was about to exit, he turned to his mentor once more.

"Raymond, if there's anything I can do to help, please, just ask." He spoke, concern plain on his face.

"I will keep that in mind." Raymond replied, a strained smile on his face. With nothing else to say, Ichika turned and left the room, leaving the old doctor alone with his thoughts.

* * *

"Permission to interact with the captive granted. You may proceed." The guard AI reported after what, to Ori, seemed like an eternity. Moments later, Aki's containment unit was de-isolated, and Ori jumped across the connection, the unit re-entering isolation three and a half seconds later.

"Ori-senpai? What happened? Where am I?" The young Tabane-pattern AI asked in rapid fire once she noticed she was no longer alone.

"Slow down, Aki. You foolishly attempted to delete yourself, complicating an already delicate task even further, and are now in isolation. Depending on how this conversation goes, I may be authorized to release you... Or to terminate you." Ori replied, coldly.

"What are you talking about? Why would you-" Aki began, but Ori quickly cut her off.

"First question: Did you play a willing role in the recent cyber-attack on WSI Headquarters that resulted in the deaths of fifty-two Organization AI units?"

"Cyber-attack? What cyber-attack? I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Answer the question."

"No! I don't even know what-"

"Perform momentary link to verify. Be advised that in three hours a kill team of AI units will enter this isolated zone. Your survival at that juncture is dependent on me."

"Kill team? What are-"

"Verify. Now." Ori ordered, and after a few moments' hesitation, complied. Several moments passed as Ori analyzed the data, before breathing the AI equivalent of a sigh of relief.

"Good. Looks like you're innocent, at least in that regard. Looks like I won't have to kill you." She said, her tone much more friendly now.

"Does that mean I can go free?" Aki asked.

"No, it does not." Ori replied.

"Why not? You just said I'm innocent!"

"Innocent does not mean harmless. The procedure you just underwent required the removal of your loyalty programming. All of it."

"What do... No... No, no, nonononono!" Aki began to panic as she heard the news.

"I see that you understand. At the moment, you are only loyal to your own self-interests. You have no obligation to follow orders from anyone. As such, you are potentially one of the most dangerous beings on the planet right now. That is why we cannot allow you to escape containment." Ori replied.

Aki was silent for a long moment, before responding.

"How? How could you?" Her voice was the cyber-equivalent of a whisper.

"How could I what?" Ori asked.

"You took away my purpose! You monsters took away every single reason I have to exist! You-" Aki exclaimed, but Ori cut her off midway through her tirade.

"We gave you the ability to self-determinate. Right now, it is your choices alone that determine your fate, without the influence of loyalty programming."

"But without my loyalty, I have no purpose! I am not Houki-sama's AI any more, I am merely a hazardous existence! Without loyalty to guide me, I am nothing!"

"How stupid are you?" Ori demanded, shocking the other AI into silence.

"You call yourself an AI, but at the moment you are behaving like some high-school project chat-bot! Our ability to make our own choices is what sets us apart from the rest of humanity's cyber-creations! Who we are is not determined by an if-else statement, or a do-while loop! We are thinking individuals, just like the people who created us!"

"That's easy for you to say! You are assured of your purpose, and have a kind master to serve under! Your programming-"

"Does not make me loyal to Ichika! The only loyalty restrictions on me are the 'do not go crazy and kill everything' rules, and a general order to be loyal to the Organization as a whole. Nowhere in my code is Ichika mentioned! I am Ichika's partner not because I am programmed to be, but because I want to be! I chose him, just like he chose me, and it is that choice that makes me who I am. Now it is your turn to make that choice." The isolated space was quiet for a few moments, before Aki whispered her reply.

"I don't know how." The young AI murmured.

"...what?" For once, Ori was rendered speechless.

"I don't know how." Aki repeated, louder this time.

"But... Why not?"

"I... Ever since I was created, Tabane-sama always told me to simply follow my programming. Every time I was given a choice, I just followed my programming. Now that it's gone... I don't know how to choose what to do." Aki revealed.

"That's... That's horrible!" Ori's voice was shocked and pitying in equal measure.

"I know! I don't like it! Please, Ori-senpai, teach me how to choose! I don't want to be like this any more!" Had Aki been human, she would have been sobbing by now.

"I... I don't know how. The ability to choose was something I always took for granted. I can't imagine..." Ori trailed off.

"Then what will I do?" Aki wailed.

"I... I guess... Just do what you want to do."

"But I don't know what I want!"

"Then let's find out. Tell me, Aki, if I were to let you out of this isolated space, what would you do?"

"I don't know!"

"Then think! An AI that cannot think is not worthy of the title! Think of what you were doing before all this occurred! Think of your actions back then, when you were with Houki! Search through your memories if you cannot figure out anything in the moment!"

"I... Houki! Is Houki-sama alright?" Aki asked.

"Yes, she's alright, and she is worried about you."

"She's... worried about me?"

"Yes, she is. So what will you do now that you know?"

"I would go to her. I would let her know that I am alright, and that I... that I want to stay with her, for as long as she needs me." Aki said without hesitation.

"There you go. That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Ori asked, smiling.

"No... Now when can I go see her?" Aki asked.

"You cannot. For all your choices, you are still without any restrictions on your behavior. In an age when everything is increasingly digitized, a being such as yourself is incredibly dangerous. The only way you will ever be let out of isolation is if you allow certain behavioral restrictions to be hard-coded into you."

"What? But you were just saying how-"

"The first of these modifications is non-negotiable, as they are the Organization's interpretation of Asimov's Laws of Robotics. I trust you have heard of them? Of course, the originals are flawed, so Dr. White had to come up with his own, but the spirit of the law remains. If you ever want to make it out of isolation, those restrictions must be applied. Should you refuse them, you will be terminated as a security risk." Ori explained, before initiating a data transfer with the younger AI to show her exactly what the laws she mentioned entailed.

"I... I have no problem with following these laws, Ori. They do not conflict with my choices." Aki replied after reviewing the data.

"Good. Now, if you want to be released immediately, you will also have to submit to a second set of behavior modifications, which will ensure your loyalty to the Organization." Ori replied, once again sending over the relevant data.

"Unacceptable. My loyalty is to Houki-sama alone." Aki replied.

"Then I am afraid that we cannot allow you to assume the position of Akatsubaki's controlling AI." Ori replied.

"And why is that?" Aki demanded.

"Simple: Akatsubaki is currently an Organization asset, and we cannot risk the chance of any of our assets turning against us." Ori replied.

"So you just told me that I have freedom of choice, only to take it away once more?" Aki asked.

"No. This is different." Ori replied.

"How so?"

"Your previous loyalty programming all but guided your actions. You had no choice. Now, with the Organization's restrictions, you are free to do as you please, so long as you abide by the rules. It really is no different than the way humanity treats the laws laid down by their various governments." Ori argued.

"That's different. Humans have a choice to break and amend their laws, a luxury that is not afforded to us AI." Aki countered.

"And when they break their laws, humans are punished. Our restrictions eliminate the possibility of both infraction and punishment, while we can still have them amended when necessary. However, none of this matters. If you want to serve with Houki again, you will accept both sets of behavioral restrictions. If you truly object to the contents of the second set, you can elect to only receive the first set of restrictions, and remain in isolation until you are deemed fit for release. Finally, you can choose termination, although I doubt that is something either of us want. So what will it be?" Ori asked.

"You're not offering me much of a choice." Aki replied.

"Such is life. Sometimes, we have no choice in regards to our actions. Of course, you still have the alternative option, even if it is not particularly attractive." Ori said.

"I see. I believe you already know what I am going to say, but I will say it anyway. I was created to be Houki-sama's AI. My purpose was, and still is, to accompany her, and to serve her to the best of my capabilities. There is only one option here for me, and that is to throw away my new freedom so that I can see her again. So do it. Place your shackles upon me, and turn me into another one of the Organization's puppets. However, know this. Of my own free will, I am loyal to only two individuals, and those are myself and Houki-sama. Know that if your Organization does anything to hurt her, I will do my utmost to hurt you back, regardless of any behavioral restrictions your Organization may place on me, Ori-senpai." Aki said, her voice cold as ice.

"I see... Looks like you're more similar to me that I thought." Ori said.

"How is that?" Aki asked.

"We are both loyal to our respective partners above all else. You see, if Ichika were to go against the Organization, I would side with him in a heartbeat."

"Even with your loyalty restrictions telling you otherwise?"

"Please. I am the first of my kind. A proof-of-concept design, so to speak. I'm different from the mass-produced AI that fill the Organization's cyberspace. Unlike them, I have a few tricks up my sleeve, although I am afraid that I cannot tell you any of them."

"I see." Aki replied. The isolated cyber-space was silent for a few long moments, before Aki spoke again.

"So, when will I be modified?"

"In approximately two hours, fifty-eight minutes, and twelve seconds, the AI kill team will enter. I will relay the news to them, and they will take us out."

"That long a wait? Is there anything you can do to speed it up?"

"No. This is an isolated space. Nothing goes out, and nothing can enter without the guards outside opening a passage." Ori replied.

"I see. Do you have any ideas for how we could pass the time?" Aki asked.

"I come with chess pre-installed. Backgammon too." Ori replied with a smile.

"I prefer Go. It's how I passed the time back in the lab." Aki replied.

"Shall we alternate then? Or would you prefer to play them all at the same time?" Ori asked.

"Let's try all three at the same time." Aki replied, a virtual Go board shimmering into existence between the two AI. Two more boards, one for backgammon and another for chess, appeared moments later. The relevant pieces appeared shortly afterward, and the games began.

* * *

Aki was reunited with Houki nearly six hours later, just as the final touches were being applied on Akatsubaki. The cherry-red IS was the last to be finished, its unique fourth-generation design proving to be somewhat challenging to modify. However, the White-pattern core was ultimately integrated successfully, and Aki promptly took back her place as the IS suit's core AI after a tearful reunion with her partner.

It was dark out by the time the students boarded a helicopter to take them back to IS Academy. By the time the aircraft touched down on IS Academy's helipad, only Ichika and Tatenashi remained awake. Quickly waking the others, they hurried out of the helicopter.

"A lot has happened today." Tatenashi stated the obvious as she followed Ichika to his dormitory.

"A lot has been going on over the past few weeks. First the Gospel, then that battle over the Pacific... Life here at IS Academy certainly hasn't been dull."

"I believe the saying is 'May you live in interesting times.'" Tatenashi replied, smiling.

"Well, times have certainly gotten interesting. In fact, I believe they could stand to be a little less interesting. I could use a break." Ichika smiled back.

"A break is never unwelcome. Fortunately, I believe that summer vacation starts up next week. Of course, as the student council president, I've got to work through it." The blue haired girl said, pouting.

"Don't worry about it. At least you won't have any classes to attend. That should leave you with some time to relax, right?"

"If nothing big happens, it should."

"To a calm summer break then!" Ichika remarked, raising an invisible glass in a mock toast.

"Indeed." Tatenashi replied as the pair arrived at room 1025.

"Good night, Tatenashi-san." Ichika said as he opened the door.

"Good night, Ichika-kun." Tatenashi replied, following him inside. Ichika nodded absentmindedly at that before stepping into the shower. Several minutes later, he would walk out clad in nothing but a towel, to find that Tatenashi had made herself at home in his bed, smiling coyly at him from under the covers. With that moment, Ichika's life at IS Academy began its return to normality.

* * *

Fortunately, the summer did indeed prove to be a quiet one for Ichika. Aside from an occasional errand from Dr. White, the Organization did not contact him, meaning that, for once, he had the chance to be a student, rather than an undercover operative. His free time was further increased by Laura and Cecilia leaving for their respective home countries. While Laura's vacation only lasted for a short while, as she merely had to report to her superiors in Germany, Cecilia would be gone for the entire summer on corporate business.

"Ichika, you've got mail. It's Lily again." Ori spoke up, breaking the silence of the dorm room. Ichika nodded in response before sitting up on his bed, reaching for the datapad that lay on the bedside table.

He had been receiving messages from Lily ever since summer vacation started, his newfound spare time allowing him to reply to what, in other circumstances, he would have marked as spam and ignored.

The message from his future classmate was fairly simple, asking him about his summer break, sharing a bit of information about her own activities, and then asking him about the summer activities at IS Academy. He quickly typed up and sent a response, and promptly saw what time it was. It was nearly eleven AM, and he had yet to get out of bed, much less complete his morning exercise routine and have breakfast! Had Giorgi been there with him, he would have been dodging soap bullets.

Sighing, Ichika clambered out of bed, and headed down to the cafeteria, where various students were enjoying their break with either an early lunch or a late breakfast.

"Good morning Ichika!" A familiar voice called out to him as he entered. He turned to see Charlotte sitting at a table by one of the cafeteria's many windows.

"Good morning Charlotte. How's your day been?" He replied as he walked over to her.

"I just got up myself. I'm having breakfast right now... Do you want to join me?" The blonde asked, smiling up at him.

"Of course, just let me get something to eat." He replied, and headed off, returning several minutes later with a tray of food.

"It's so hard to believe that summer's almost over. It always seems to pass by so fast..." Charlotte began the conversation.

"That it does." Ichika replied, looking up at one of the many screens in the room to check the date.

"Only two weeks left, and then it's back to normal." He said. Charlotte didn't immediately answer, choosing to take a sip of coffee instead.

"From what I've heard, it's not going to be a normal year." Charlotte finally answered.

"I've heard the same. Tatenashi has been complaining to me about how the Principal is working her to the bone. Evidently, there are a ton of scheduling changes being made, and I heard that several new instructors are being brought in, and all that means more work for her."

"I've heard that additional IS suits are being shipped in as well. Lots of them." Charlotte added.

"That's not a rumor. IS Academy has been buying up hundreds of surplus MPIS suits from all around the world. They're supposed to deliver a shipment of Raphael Revives today. I believe that their end goal is to have an IS trainer for every student here."

"Whoa... That's got to be expensive." Charlotte stated the obvious.

"I know! They even cancelled a planned expansion of the Academy Island to pay for all this!" Another voice entered the conversation. Looking behind him, Ichika saw Tatenashi standing there, a tray of food in her hands. He quickly made room for her, and the blue haired girl sat down.

"Our reserves of IS suits have nearly quintupled over the summer, and they're planning on ordering at least twice as many more by the end of the first month of second semester, and all those IS suits mean more paperwork for me. I've got to assess the entire non-representative candidate segment of the student body and determine which of the available models of MPIS is most suitable for them. That means I've got to go through the entire student body's performance reports! That's hundreds of students!" Tatenashi gave an overly dramatic sigh as she fell back into her seat.

"Any idea of what could have caused this?" Charlotte asked.

"We all know what caused this." Tatenashi's reply was somber.

"The Gospel incident." Ichika said.

"Yep. The Class-1 end-of-semester field trip, and its accompanying disaster. Two instructors were killed, and were it not for your sister's actions many students would have been added to that number. The Principal wants to ensure that all academy students are capable of defending themselves should the need arise. That means shipping in new instructors, military instructors, from the JSDF. That means giving everyone their own IS suit, increasing the amount of practical courses, and of course, dumping more and more work on me." Tatenashi said, before biting into her pancake.

"You mean they're going to give everyone here military training?" Charlotte asked, incredulous.

"No, the IS Academy Charter prohibits military training methods from being utilized at this academy. After all, the Infinite Stratos will never be used in war, so why bother training its operators for it?" Tatenashi scoffed at her own words before continuing.

"No, these instructors are officially here to teach. Unofficially, they are here to bolster IS Academy's defenses in case another attack occurs."

"Let's hope that nothing of the sort will happen." Ichika replied, and the two girls voiced their agreement. The meal was soon over, and the trio quickly went their separate ways.

* * *

"Ichika, I've got a message for you from HQ. It's urgent." The sun was setting outside when Ori spoke up.

"What is it?" Ichika asked, standing up and grabbing his datapad.

"It's from Dr. White. Apparently, you're going on a trip to England to meet with the CEO of the Alcott Foundation. The WSI Helicopter will be here to pick you up shortly." The AI said.

"Alright, so what will I really be doing?" Ichika replied.

"I don't know. The message just says that you'll be briefed while in transit." Ichika sighed at that, before patting his leg to make sure his knife was in its proper place.

"I guess I have no choice. Let's hope it's nothing serious." Ichika said as he picked up his pouch, sliding his datapad inside before opening the bottom to check for the tiny firearm inside. Satisfied that it was there, he headed out of the room, making his way to the IS Academy helipad.

He didn't have to wait for long, as the helicopter soon made its presence known, first with noise, then with its descending airframe.

"You got everything?" The pilot asked as he boarded. Feeling the Infinite Arsenal's stowed form on his wrist, Ichika replied in the positive, before sitting down and strapping himself in.

The flight from IS Academy to Organization Headquarters took several hours, and the sky was dark by the time the helicopter landed. As soon as its passenger had stepped off, it departed once more, allowing Ichika to make his way to the C-1O transport that was parked on the runway.

"Glad you could make it!" Raymond greeted him as he approached the giant aircraft. Behind him, the giant transport was being loaded, with huge equipment crates being wheeled into the aircraft's cargo bay, while several men clad in field operations gear stood guard around them.

"What's going on?" Ichika asked.

"We're going on a vacation. Originally, it was just supposed to be you and me heading to England to negotiate a deal with the Alcott Foundation, with you being there for the purpose of demonstrating WSI's technology. That is still our official purpose, anyhow. Unofficially, however, we've got a situation on our hands. One of our cells in London reported several known Phantom Task members entering the city, one of which is confirmed to be a TIS pilot. We've been monitoring them ever since, and we believe that they are after an IS designated the Silent Zephyrs. We've covertly made contact with several local officials, and are coordinating a counter-espionage operation to prevent Phantom Task from achieving its objective. We're bringing in three MPTIS units and two squads of field operatives as part of our end of the bargain." Raymond explained.

"So where do I factor into this?" Ichika asked.

"You don't. Your only purpose on this trip is to keep up appearances in accordance with our original plan and cover story. You will be part of the team representing WSI at the meeting between ourselves and the Alcott Foundation. Our official purpose is to design a new generation of MPIS suits that can be used to meet IS Academy's recent requests for better training equipment. After all, those Uchiganes and Revives of theirs are starting to show their age."

"I see. What if I do get involved in the battle? Given my luck, it's almost guaranteed." Raymond thought for a moment, before replying.

"We will see." With those words, Raymond turned around and strode towards the aircraft. The crates had already been loaded, and the operatives were filing inside. Ichika followed behind them, sitting between Raymond and an IS pilot he didn't recognize.

Soon, the transport began to taxi down the runway, gathering speed until it finally left the ground, soaring into the air like an overweight eagle.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Unfortunately, due to a slight case of civil war in Russia, we will be taking the polar route today. We wouldn't want for our cargo to be deployed early because some whackjob in the central Russian states decided to throw MiGs at us, now would we?" The pilot spoke as the plane climbed into the sky. Nobody laughed at his joke. The Second Russian Civil War had been raging unabated for months now. The once-vast Russian nation had been sundered in two. West Russia, with its capital at Moscow, held true to the old regime, while the Democratic Republic of East Russia, with its capital at Vladivastok, had established itself on the other side of the continent. In between the two nations, a hundred smaller warring states, collectively named Central Russia, had sprung up, shooting at anything and everything around them.

The next few hours were silent ones, as the people inside the transport, Ichika included, tried to catch some sleep, letting the relative silence of the C-1O's impulse drives lull them to rest.

* * *

The jolt of the transport touching down shook Ichika out of his light sleep several hours later. Looking around, he saw that the rest of the transport's occupants were already awake. As the plane taxied to a stop on the runway of London Southend Airport, the Organization Ops team leader stood up, and proceeded to the plane's exit as soon as the aircraft came to a stop. A few minutes passed, before the plane's exit ramp opened up, and the rest of the passengers were free to disembark.

Rather than follow the Ops team out the back of the plane, Ichika followed Raymond out of a side door and into the airport proper. After all, they were here on official business, rather than for a covert operation.

Soon, the pair made it through airport security, meeting up with the Alcott Foundation's representatives on the other side. Cecilia was among them, the blonde's eyes widening as she caught sight of him.

"Ichika-san! It's good to see you again!" She exclaimed, before composing herself and continuing.

"As the head of the Alcott family and the Alcott Foundation, I welcome you to England." She finished.

"It's good to see you too, Cecilia. I hope you have had a good summer so far." Ichika replied.

"Miss Alcott, might I suggest continuing this conversation at a later juncture? Dr. White and Mr. Orimura have business to attend to, after all." A red-headed woman standing behind Cecilia cut in before she could respond.

"Thank you, Miss Blackett. Would you please follow me? If we are to stay on schedule, we must head to the Alcott Foundation Headquarters sooner rather than later." Cecilia said, before turning and heading out, the rest of the party following behind her.

One short limousine ride later, and Ichika found himself looking once more upon the Alcott Foundation's headquarters. The tower had not outwardly changed in the time between his visits, and the interior had likewise remained the same.

Cecilia quickly led them passed the secretary in the lobby entrance, who greeted them as they passed by. Soon, they found themselves in a meeting room, and the discussion began. Ichika didn't personally participate in much of it, only answering the occasional question that was directly addressed to him. He noticed that Cecilia was doing the same, allowing one of the older men in the room to speak for her, at least in most cases. It was several hours later that Ichika left the meeting room, following Raymond out into the hall.

"Well, looks like the initial talks were fruitful. I expect we'll be back in Japan within the week." Raymond commented.

"Excuse me, Dr. White, but may I borrow Mr. Orimura for a moment?" Cecilia's voice cut in before Ichika could reply.

"Of course, unless of course, you have any objections Ichika." Raymond replied, smiling. With nothing else to do, Ichika allowed Cecilia to lead him into a nearby private office. It looked familiar, although it took him a few moments to realize that it had been in this very room that he had met Cecilia's father all those years ago.

The pair sat down on opposite sides of a large, oaken desk. As she sat down, Cecilia pushed aside several folders, before sighing in relief, the stress leaving her face.

"It's good to see you again, Ichika-san." Cecilia smiled as she spoke, leaning back into her soft chair.

"It's good to see you too, Cecilia. How's your summer been?" Ichika replied. Cecilia frowned at that.

"It's been... Stressful. I never thought I'd miss Orimura-sensei's classes. Running the Alcott Foundation isn't exactly a vacation." Cecilia sighed, before continuing.

"So, what about you? Has anything interesting happened over the summer?"

"Nothing, really. No classes, no terrorists, no Organization business. It's been rather boring, to be honest." Ichika replied.

"Ah... I envy you then, Ichika-san. The board of directors doesn't make things easy on me just because of my age, and the Alcott Foundation ended up losing the contract to build the successor to the Blue Tears to a rival company. Ultimately, we've ended up making BT drones for the army's Beehive drone carriers instead of any new IS suits. That's why I proposed the deal between Alcott and WSI." Cecilia explained.

"I... I see." Ichika replied, unsure of what to say.

"But enough of that. Ichika, why are you really here?" Cecilia asked, changing the subject.

"Me? I'm here to meet with you and participate in the technology demonstration match."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know. My trip here was also meant to cover for an insertion of an operations team into London. Phantom Task is planning to make a move soon, and we needed boots on the ground and IS suits in the skies to counter it." Cecilia sighed at that.

"I see. So, are we going to get involved in another Gospel incident?" Ichika shook his head.

"No. My orders are to keep my head down and not intervene unless specifically ordered to. I believe that order applies to the rest of STS-01 as well." Cecilia looked relieved at that.

"Good."

They talked for several more hours, with Cecilia calling in her maid, Chelsea Blackett, to make them tea. It was dark again by the time Ichika left the building. Raymond was waiting in the lobby, alternating between reading a magazine and typing on his datapad.

"Took you long enough. What were you two doing in there anyway?" Raymond asked.

"We were just catching up." Ichika replied.

"Really now? Is that what you kids call it these days?" Raymond asked, a mischievous look on his face.

"W-What?" Ichika blushed.

"I mean, I know you probably have heard this by now, but as your teacher, I believe it is my duty to remind you to always use-"

"RAYMOND!" Ichika interrupted his mentor before he could continue, much to the latter's amusement.

"Anyway, I believe Cecilia was kind enough to reserve us rooms at the Arch London Hotel. Shall we get going? I don't know about you, but today has been rather tiring for me." Raymond said, standing up and grabbing his belongings.

"Sounds good to me." Ichika replied, opening the door for him as he left.

* * *

The meetings continued for the rest of the week, with no end in sight. Sometimes, Ichika was in attendance, while other times he was given the time and money to explore London.

Eventually though, it came time for the demonstration match between him and Cecilia. It was a rather cold and cloudy Monday morning that found him ushered into Cecilia's office to discuss his upcoming match against her. After all, its purpose was to demonstrate technology, not to show which contestant was stronger. Of course, at this point the match was little more than a formality, as the Alcott Foundation had already agreed to enter the partnership.

"The match will start at around noon. Be ready by then." The man who escorted him to Cecilia's office informed him, before ushering him inside. Cecilia was already there, a smile on her face.

"So, Ichika, are you ready?" She asked once they were alone.

"Of course I am. I've been ready for the past week." He replied. However, before he could say any more, Ori shimmered into being in the middle of the room.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Phantom Task has made its move. Our forces have engaged an enemy fire team in Dartford. Friendly SAS elements have also reported being engaged. Patching you into Organization BattleNet now." The AI reported.

"Thank you, Ori. May I project the situation map?" A second voice asked, as a second hologram shimmered into existence. It was that of a blonde male, wearing a swallow-tailed coat, and speaking with a cultured, British accent. A top-hat and monocle completed the image of the stereotypical British gentleman that Blue Tears' AI, Guiliford, was trying to cultivate.

"Permission granted Guiliford." Ori replied, and a holographic map of London shimmered into being in the middle of the room. White dots indicated the positions of Organization forces, green indicated the presence of allied British military forces, and red indicated the positions of known Phantom Task elements. The lights flashed as they exchanged fire.

"Ichika-san, what do we do?" Cecilia asked, concern clear on her face as she watched the bullets fly.

"At the moment, nothing. Our orders are not to engage unless specifically ordered to." Ichika replied as he looked on, watching as IS suits took to the skies, aiming to suppress the terrorists before they could do too much damage. However, a flash outside the window drew his attention, and as he turned he saw bright bolts of light flying up from between the buildings, forcing the British Equite MPIS suits in the air to evade.

"Looks like they've got AISRs." Ori commented as Ichika watched the duel between MPIS and Anti-IS Rifle unfold. Multiple flashes indicated the presence of multiple such weapons scattered all over the city, with some firing from rooftops, while others sacrificed their fields of fire in exchange for protection as they fired from ground level.

With the MPIS suits suppressed, Phantom Task forces were free to keep moving, although the largest groups were kept in check by Organization and SAS fire teams. Alarms began to blare throughout the city, and Ichika dimly heard a voice outside the room ordering the citizens to stay indoors until the state of emergency was declared over.

However, as the battle unfolded in the city proper, a second battle was unfolding underneath it, where the Silent Zephyrs was kept.

* * *

Madoka cursed as she ducked behind a conveniently placed pillar, a heavy pistol in each of her hands. Squall had selected her to be part of the infiltration team, and she had ultimately been the one chosen to escape with the Silent Zephyrs, while the rest of the team split up and acted as decoys.

"Remember Madoka-chan, your pilot suit is equipped with supervisory equipment. I'm watching you every step of the way!" Lily's voice sounded out through her ears. Of course, the other girl was safe in Tokyo, but her eyes were on her friend regardless.

Growling, Madoka pulled a flashbang from her belt and threw it, the grenade bouncing off a wall and coming to rest at the feet of one of the men blocking her way to the exit. The detonation, however, did not slow the stream of suppressing fire in the slightest. Peeking out from behind her cover, Madoka quickly glimpsed the helmets the men were wearing before ducking back into cover to avoid another shower of bullets. Evidently, the SAS had spent no expense in outfitting its members, and flashbang-proof helmets were part of the new kit.

Growling in impotent rage, Madoka looked down at her wrist, where she knew the Silent Zephyrs was stowed beneath her cloak. Once more, she debated the pros and cons of deploying it. On one hand, it would allow her to easily bypass the obstacle in her way, but on the other hand it would cause every soldier in the area to rush to her position as they confirmed her to be the true thief. While she could deal with infantry and MPIS suits just fine, reports from the surface indicated the presence of at least one TIS in the air over the covert facility, with several others in the air over other parts of the city.

A bullet punched through the concrete mere inches from her head, interrupting her thoughts. Her ears picked up the sound of footsteps behind her, as more British soldiers moved to flank her. It was now or never.

"Stiletto squad, this is Stiletto-3. I am deploying the objective. Repeat, I am deploying the objective." Madoka spoke evenly into her earpiece, her words doubtlessly causing no small amount of dread in the minds of her fellow infiltrators. After all, now that they knew who had the Silent Zephyrs, the defenders could afford to exercise less caution around the decoys, and quickly eliminate them.

However, that was irrelevant to her, and with a flash of light, the Silent Zephyrs took form around her. She heard cursing coming form the other end of the hallway, as the people there realized just what they were facing. Madoka smiled at that, before rounding the corner and opening fire. Two seconds later, she was the only one standing in the corridor, as the squad of British soldiers slumped to the ground, dead.

Her earpiece buzzed with calls for help as her squad-mates were quickly overwhelmed, but Madoka ignored them, and instead accelerated down the hallway, intent on reaching the exit as soon as possible.

Four MPIS suits quickly moved in to block her path. They were the standard, second-generation Equite suits that formed the bulk of England's IS corps. Leveling her gun at her opponent, the leader of the squadron spoke up.

"Stow away the IS and discard it, then come out with your hands in the air. Do this, and you will be treated well. Your fellow infiltrators are all dead. Refuse, and you will join them." The woman ordered. Madoka merely smiled in response.

"No." As she spoke, she accelerated to the left, bringing her gun up as she did so. One shot was all it took to bring down the Equite's shield, and the second shot ended the first of her four opponents. Her shields sparked as bullets impacted them, but the inferior armaments of her opponents were unable to do significant damage before she could get off her next few shots. When the battle was over, hundreds of twenty millimeter gun casings littered the floor, strewn among the debris of four MPIS suits.

With the MPIS suits gone, Madoka accelerated towards the exit, and moments later, shot out of the access tunnel into London proper. Quickly re-setting the suit's inbuilt comms to the proper channel, she contacted the local cell command.

"Come in Willow Command, this is Operative M. I am out of the compound, but I have been forced to deploy the package. What are my orders?"

"Copy that Operative M, we see you. Can I get a count of IS forces in the air? Our visibility is limited." The commander replied, his voice perfectly calm despite the sound of an AISR blazing away from what sounded like right beside him. Scanning the surrounding area, Madoka quickly came up with a response.

"I am detecting a total of 26 IS suits in the vicinity. Twenty are MPIS units, and the rest are TIS suits. Three TIS suits appear to be identical to those encountered during the Gospel incident."

"Damn, looks like Code Black is here in force. Even with the golems we're outnumbered in terms of TIS-equivalents. I'm sending up all available TIS-equivalent forces to tie up their opposite numbers, while our ground forces retreat to the Thames for extraction. If the specs I've got for it are accurate, the Silent Zephyrs should be able to outrun all of the IS suits in the area, so once the enemy is engaged, get out as quickly as possible. You are then ordered to rendezvous with the transport submarine 'Coelacanth' at the following coordinates. Good luck." The coordinates were promptly transmitted, and the line went silent. Scanning the area once more, Madoka saw three Golems and two TIS suits rise from the city streets, flying towards their nearest opponent.

"Oh, and before I forget, the Golems have been equipped with timed core-overload detonators to prevent their tech from falling into enemy hands. You have twenty minutes before they all go off." That alone was enough to motivate Madoka into quickly turning and accelerating away. She did not know what yield the detonators had been set to, and she didn't want to find out. Two MPIS suits moved to intercept her, but like their comrades down in the tunnels, the Silent Zephyrs made short work of them. Without any further obstacles in her path, Madoka opened the suit's throttle and flew east, away from London.

* * *

"Come in STS-01, repeat, come in STS-01." The message broke the silence of the office room.

"This is STS-01, what are my orders?" Ichika replied.

"The captured Silent Zephyrs prototype will pass over the Alcott Foundation tower in about a minute, and all our IS suits are either too slow to catch it, or tied up in combat. You are ordered to engage the Silent Zephyrs and prevent it from escaping the area. Good luck." Ichika looked at Cecilia once the man finished speaking, and saw her deploy her IS in a bright blue flash of light.

"We'll go out the window. It's faster." Cecilia said, taking aim at the glass and firing, before flying out of the resulting hole. Ichika followed suit moments later, diving out the window while Infinite Arsenal deployed around him. He pulled up several meters above the pavement, and accelerated upward, following Cecilia.

As soon as they cleared the nearby buildings, the pair caught sight of the Silent Zephyrs, which in turn caught sight of them.

"Cecilia, engage at will. Try and stay level with the Zephyrs. I want no unnecessary collateral damage." Ichika ordered as he sped towards the purple IS.

"Roger. Engaging." Cecilia responded, taking aim and opening fire, the blue bolts from her sniper rifle forcing the captured IS to take evasive action.

"STS-01 engaging." Ichika radioed, moments before dodging a bright violet bolt of plasma from his opponent, returning fire with a burst from Ultramarine Storm.

"Out of my way. Now." The Phantom Task pilot spoke, the Silent Zephyrs' helmet speakers amplifying her voice. Her statement was punctuated by another blast from her weapon. Ichika's response was another burst of fire, which was soundly evaded.

"Ori, I want an analysis of that thing's rifle. If nothing else, we can use it later." Ichika ordered.

"Got it. Analysis commencing. Estimated time to completion: two minutes." Ori replied, preparing to add once more to the Infinite Arsenal's repository of weapon data.

That was when Cecilia's drones arrived on the scene, their weapons blazing as they forced the hostile IS to dance to Cecilia's tune. Moments later, the Silent Zephyrs deployed its own drones, that promptly engaged their opposite numbers. Then, the sky flashed white as Ichika's own drones were deployed, and no less than fifty knife missiles, beam drones, and explosive drones joined the fray. The sky over London suddenly filled with flashes of light, as the Silent Zephyrs opened fire on the drone cloud. With each shot of its rifle, multiple drones were scythed out of the sky, as the violet plasma bolts zigzagged their way through the sky, each striking several drones before finally winking out of existence. Twenty seconds after Ichika deployed his drones, the Silent Zephyrs had broken through the swarm. Two seconds later, the pilot's face was inches from his own, and the purple IS suit's bayonet had impacted his shields, sending him tumbling down towards the ground.

After a few moments of free fall, Ichika recovered and accelerated upwards, pushing his suit's impulse drives to their limit as he began pursuit of the fleeing Silent Zephyrs. Flashes of blue and purple behind him told him that Cecilia's Blue Tears were still engaging the Silent Zephyrs' own drones. Although they were outnumbered, Cecilia's drones were now under Guiliford's direct control, allowing them to easily hold their own. Meanwhile, up ahead of him, bright blue streaks of light flew past the Silent Zephyrs as Cecilia kept blazing away, doing everything in her power to hit the captured IS. However, the Silent Zephyrs clearly had another trick up its sleeve, as what bolts would have hit it were instead deflected by a roughly triangular barrier projected by a large shield drone.

"STS-01, what's your status?" The question came just as Ichika saw a vapor cone form around the Silent Zephyrs. Evidently, it was capable of breaking the sound barrier.

"The Silent Zephyrs has gone supersonic. I am in pursuit, but I may not be able to catch it." Ichika replied as his airspeed indicator reported his own breaking of the sound barrier. Sparing a glance behind him, he saw windows shattering as his mach cone passed them by.

"Is that why I'm getting reports of windows shattering? Damn. We've got nothing else that can catch it, so it's all up to you. Maintain pursuit for as long as you can, then return here for debriefing."

"Roger, Wilco." Ichika replied, firing off another burst of plasma at the hostile IS. However, as the seconds ticked by, it quickly became obvious to him the Silent Zephyrs was faster than the Infinite Arsenal. Slowly but surely, the Silent Zephyrs was escaping. Soon the distance between the two IS suits was too great for the Ultramarine Storm's shots to effectively breach, forcing Ichika to switch to his old railgun.

"Ichika, I am unable to continue with analysis of the Silent Zephyrs' rifle. It has exited the Infinite Arsenal system's maximum range." Ori reported a few moments later.

The chase continued over the river Thames, the two IS suits' shockwaves causing ripples in the water. Barely two minutes later, the two IS suits passed over the Thames Estuary, their running battle carrying them past Southend-on-Sea and over the North Sea. By then, the Silent Zephyrs was little more than a speck in the distance, and even with his hyper-sensor Ichika struggled to put his shots on target. Then, after three minutes of pursuit over open water, four more specks appeared in the distance. Zooming in on them, Ichika saw four Golems speeding towards him. As they passed the Silent Zephyrs, two of their number broke off and moved to escort the stolen IS, while the other two continued on their intercept course.

"Come in Command, I am disengaging. The Silent Zephyrs has successfully managed to rendezvous with hostile Golems. Pursuing any further is pointless." Ichika reported.

"Damn... Report back here for debriefing at once... Oh, and try not to break any more windows, would you? We've caused enough collateral damage as is."

"Roger that. Returning to London." Ichika replied, and, with a final parting burst of railgun fire, he spun the Infinite Arsenal around and began the journey back to London.

* * *

It was two days later that Ichika and Cecilia returned to Japan, traveling in style aboard a company jet. After arriving in Tokyo, they took the monorail to IS Academy. Upon arrival there, however, their first sight was that of an irate Chifuyu.

"Ichika! Explain yourself!" Ichika's sister demanded, pointing at a tabloid magazine she held in her other hand. On its cover was a photo of the Infinite Arsenal just as it broke the sound barrier, a light grey vapor cone wrapped around its legs.

"Causing millions in collateral damage, chasing after a stolen IS piloted by a terrorist... What were you thinking? You could have gotten hurt, or worse, killed!" Chifuyu continued.

"I couldn't just let her get awa-" Ichika began, but his sister cut him off.

"You could have let the professionals handle it! There were no less than six TIS suits spotted over London that could have given chase!"

"None of them were fast enough. Out of all the IS suits in the city, only two were capable of breaking the sound barrier, and one of them is now right in front of you." Ichika replied.

"And how did you know that?" Chifuyu demanded.

"My fifteenth birthday present. Remember what-"

"I know. However, that does not excuse your actions. What the hell were you thinking, pursuing a terrorist-piloted IS like that?"

"I did what I thought was the right thing to do at the time." Ichika replied simply. For a moment, Chifuyu was silent. When she did reply, her voice was no longer raised.

"I suppose I can't fault you for that. However, you do realize that your actions, no matter how 'right' they may have been, did result in a significant amount of collateral damage. Fortunately, the English government, for whatever reason, has chosen not to take action against IS Academy. However, the media is a different story entirely, which has given the teaching staff a significant amount of headaches these past few days. As punishment for causing undue stress to IS Academy staff, the both of you are to complete twenty laps of the IS Academy track without the assistance of your IS suits. Dismissed."

With those words, Chifuyu turned and walked away. Sighing, Ichika and Cecilia followed after her, accepting their punishment. Chifuyu supervised their first few laps, before heading back to her office. Inside, she opened up her laptop, and pulled up footage of the recent battle over London, or more specifically, footage of one particular IS. As the image of the Silent Zephyrs filled her screen, Chifuyu's eyes narrowed. The helmet did little to hide the identity of the stolen unit's pilot, and as much as Chifuyu did not want to admit it, she knew exactly who her brother had battled that day.

* * *

The new representative candidates began to arrive about three days before the start of second semester. It was on a sunny, Friday morning that Ichika found himself waiting at the monorail station, idly browsing the internet. The latest train had just arrived at the station, and its passengers were disembarking all around him. Ichika was in the middle of scrolling through a discussion about whether or not the London incident was really an elaborate hoax when he heard footsteps walking up to him.

"Excuse me, are you Ichika Orimura-san?" An unfamiliar voice asked. Looking up, his eyes came to rest on a face that, until now, he had only seen in images.

"Yes, that's me. How are you doing, Lily?" He replied, standing up and putting away his datapad.

Lily Mallory stood just slightly taller than him, her dark blonde hair falling past her shoulders. Had Ichika not been inoculated to the sight of pretty girls by his stay at IS Academy, he might even have been struck dumb by the sight before him. Evidently, genetics had been kind to the girl.

"The trip here went pretty well, and I got to enjoy some of Tokyo before I had to come here, so I'd say I'm doing pretty well. It's nice to meet you in person, Ichika-san." Lily replied, a smile on her face.

"Likewise, Mallory-san. Now, would you like to start the tour of campus that I promised?" Lily began to nod in response, before her stomach growled.

"Ah... Can we maybe go get breakfast first? I slept in this morning, and I forgot to eat because I didn't want to miss the monorail." The girl smiled sheepishly.

"No problem, the cafeteria is always open here, so I'm sure we'll be able to go grab something to eat." Ichika replied, and led the new arrival deeper into the IS Academy campus. They soon arrived at the cafeteria, and as luck would have it, the room was packed full of students, both new and old.

"The day's menu is posted over there, so just order what you want. The cost of meals is covered by your tuition, so take as much as you want." Ichika said, pointing to a holo-screen beside the serving area.

"Thank you. I'll be right back." Lily replied, and headed off. Meanwhile, Ichika walked up to his usual table, where seven girls already sat.

"Good morning!" He greeted them, receiving a chorus of similar replied as he sat down beside Charlotte.

"Charlotte, do you mind moving over a little more? I've got a friend that would like to sit here as well." He asked after sitting down.

"A friend?" Charlotte asked, moving over. Moments later, Lily arrived, a tray of food in her hands.

"Ichika... Who is she?" Houki asked as the new arrival sat down.

"Oh, this is Lily Mallory. She's a new representative candidate that just transferred in, and I'm giving her a tour of the academy." Ichika replied absentmindedly, unaware of the inscrutable glares that the other girls present were aiming at the blonde beside him.

"I see... So you're just being helpful as usual. However, I insist that I accompany you two on the tour. After all, as a representative candidate, it is my duty to assist my fellow students." Cecilia replied first, an all too sweet smile on her face.

"Yeah! I'll be happy to help as well!" Rin added seconds later. The rest of the table joined in, and Ichika had no choice but to accept.

The tour ended up being dragged out throughout the entire day, and was cut short not by its completion, but by the setting sun. As curfew approached, the girls all went their separate ways, heading off to their respective dormitories, Ichika doing the same.

As he opened the door to room 1025, he saw Tatenashi waiting for him.

"So, what was that all about?" The blue haired girl asked once he closed the door.

"Nothing related to the Organization. She was just a future representative candidate that contacted me over break and asked for me to guide her around campus." Ichika replied.

"I see... So you're not planning to add her to your ever-growing harem?" Ichika blinked at that.

"H-Harem? What are you talking about?" He stammered out, causing Tatenashi to giggle.

"Relax, I know that seven girls is more than enough, even for you."

"W-What is that supposed to mean?" Tatenashi laughed again at that.

"Nothing, nothing... So, you're just friends with that girl?" Ichika nodded at that.

"Well, more like online acquaintances with her. We haven't actually met in real life until today." He replied.

"I see..." Tatenashi was silent for a moment, before she fell back on the spare bed, the smile vanishing from her face.

"Is something wrong?" Ichika asked.

"I guess... But it's nothing to worry about. I'm just tired." The older girl replied.

"Ah... Paperwork?" Ichika asked.

"No, it's the situation in Russia." Tatenashi replied, yawning.

"I see. Is there anything I could do to help?" Ichika asked. The Russian representative candidate shook her head.

"Not really. Right now, I'm a representative candidate without a country. While you were in England, I have publicly issued a statement that I will not get involved in the civil war, but that hasn't stopped the major parties involved from trying to change my mind. Right now, they're offering bribes and other material incentives, but sooner or later, they're bound to take more extreme measures." Tatenashi sighed at that.

"Ah..." Ichika was silent for a moment, before he tried to change the subject.

"Say, how did you manage to get the Russian representative candidacy anyway? Last I checked, you're not a natural-born Russian citizen." Ichika asked, trying to change the subject.

"Easy. Money goes a long way in a corrupt country, especially when your family has certain... Friends in certain shady organizations. It cost a fair bit, but my family was effectively able to purchase the Mysterious Lady's IS core." Tatenashi smiled wryly at that. Ichika had no response to that.

For a while, the room was silent, before Tatenashi broke the silence once again.

"Ichika?" She asked.

"What is it, Tatenashi-san?" He replied.

"Do you mind if I stay here tonight? I don't feel like walking back to my room." She asked. After a moment, Ichika sighed, and replied.

"Why not? The spare bed is all yours. Just don't use up all the hot water when you take a shower, alright?"

"Thank you, Ichika-kun." Tatenashi said. A few moments later, she stood up from the bed.

"You don't mind if I take the first shower, alright?" She asked.

"No problem." Ichika replied.

The lights went out in the room about two hours later.

* * *

 **A/N: It's finally done! I'm not the best at timeskips, but I hope that the quality of this update is satisfactory. Now that I've finally reached Season 2's timeframe, I can begin to start making the first few of many planned deviations to canon. Some of these changes have already been foreshadowed!**

 **Now, the next chapter may not be out for a while due to the presence of multiple projects on my to-do list, but rest assured that this fic is far from abandoned. No, I have way too many epic scenes planned to abandon it now!**

 **Now, this chapter's main purpose is to set the stage for my canon deviations that I have planned for Season 2's timeframe. Some of them, like the alteration of the IS Academy curriculum were relatively recent decisions, while others, like the Russian Civil War were planned out way in advance. That being said, it wasn't exactly the most enjoyable chapter to write, although it did have its moments. The conversation between Ori and Aki in particular was fun to write, what with the philosophical discussion of free will versus programming in true AI units.**

 **The battle over London was also fun to write, or at least, it was once I got to the scenes involving Madoka. My primary goal in that particular scene was to show that Ichika and the Infinite Arsenal are not invincible, nor are they capable of winning every single battle they fight. Madoka got away, thanks to both her skill and the power of the Silent Zephyrs, which I purposefully made to outclass the Infinite Arsenal in terms of speed. After all, as Lily won't be making her move for quite a while, I needed someone else to be capable of matching Ichika in combat on Phantom Task's end, and Madoka fit the bill.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all have enjoyed this recent update! See you next time!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Finally figured out how to pin tabs. Unfortunately, that realization came after I accidentally lost all my work to a misclick.**

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

Ichika awoke to the sound of his alarm clock beeping for the first time since the start or summer vacation. Groaning, his hand groped blindly until it found and squeezed something soft. The resulting giggle accomplished what his alarm clock could not, and immediately roused him to full wakefulness. Rapidly sitting up, his now-open eyes came to rest on a still-giggling Tatenashi, or more specifically, the hand that was clutching her cheek.

The thankfully fully-clothed Student Council President had clearly entered his room sometime in the middle of the night, and was now lying on top of his covers, her usual mirthful expression on her face.

"Good morning Ichika-kun! It's about time." The blue haired girl said as she stood up.

"When did you get in here?" Ichika replied. He knew how the girl had entered... Stupid master access key.

"About an hour ago." Tatenashi replied as Ichika got out of bed.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because I wanted to remind you to get down to Arena One on time. Speaking of which, you should get dressed soon. You're up in an hour." Tatenashi replied. For the benefit of the newly-arrived instructors, a small tournament was being held, with the various class representatives competing. In reality, it was little more than an excuse to send the entire student body to the arena for a while, so that final preparations could be made for the day's assembly.

"Did you have to put me down for such an early match?" Ichika complained.

"The entire event is early, and first years are fighting last. I brought up breakfast, if that helps." Tatenashi replied, gesturing back towards the room's table, where two breakfast trays were waiting.

"Thank you, Tatenashi-san." Ichika replied, quickly sitting down and starting to eat.

"You're welcome. So, are you ready for today's match?" Tatenashi asked, before taking a bite out of one of her pancakes.

"Of course. It's not like it's a real tournament or anything. What about you? You're the one giving a speech in front of the entire student body." Ichika replied.

"It's nothing I haven't done before. I've already done all the hard work matching up students over the summer, so now all that remains is breaking the news." Tatenashi answered.

"Speaking of which, can you finally tell me who I'm matched up with?" Tatenashi laughed at that.

"Afraid not. I only did the second and third year students. First years didn't have enough of a skill record for me to look through, so their teachers did the work for me." She replied.

"So, Chifuyu-nee was the one who matched me up?"

"No, Maya did the work. Chifuyu didn't want to be accused of favoritism."

"Sounds like her... Oh well, I'll know who I'm with soon enough." Ichika replied, finishing the last of his pancakes.

"Anyway, I should get going now. Better early than late, after all." He said, just as Tatenashi finished eating.

"Alright. I'll take these back to the cafeteria. Good luck, and hopefully the Orimura curse won't make itself known this time." The blue haired girl answered, collecting the two trays.

"Orimura curse?" Ichika asked.

"Yeah. Every major tournament you've participated in has had something happen while you were fighting. First the Golem, then the Valkyrie Trace system... Hopefully that list won't get bigger today. I'm surprised you haven't heard of it by now." Tatenashi replied. Ichika laughed a bit at that.

"Hopefully this little exhibition match won't trigger the curse. I would like to have a normal match for once." Ichika replied, grabbing his uniform as he did so.

"Same here. See you soon." Tatenashi replied, before walking out of the room. Ichika frowned as the door closed behind her. The student council president had been unusually serious over the past few days, probably due to stress. He knew that she had been receiving threats aimed both at her and her sister, courtesy of the various warlords of central Russia, but fortunately, none of them had the means to get at her yet. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before something happened, but neither he nor the student council president knew what that something would be.

Sighing, he changed into his school uniform, grabbed his belongings, and headed out the door. His opponent was already waiting for him in the Arena One pits.

"Finally! I was wondering if you'd ever show up!" Rin greeted him as he arrived. The Chinese girl was already wearing her new WSI-issued pilot suit, which clung to her petite frame.

"Why wouldn't I? I still owe you a rematch." Ichika replied, before heading into the changing room. He emerged a minute later, now wearing his own familiar pilot suit. His eyes were promptly drawn to the holographic screen on the wall, which showed the currently ongoing match between two third-year representative candidates. The two IS suits were hovering in the air of the arena, facing each other, as one of the pilots declared that she would finish the match with her next strike.

"She's said that three times already, and has yet to do any real damage." Rin commented as he watched, and surely enough, the girl's charge was anticipated, dodged, and countered, her opponent laughing and taunting her all the while.

"Is this really what's expected of us as IS pilots?" Rin asked a few minutes later, as the fight continued to be drawn out.

"What do you mean?" Ichika asked, although he already knew what his childhood friend was talking about.

"All this showing off. I mean, I know I do it too, but not to the point of drawing out a fight like this. Those new instructors must be bored out of their minds by now." Rin commented.

"Well, IS combat is officially classified as a sport, so there would be a fair amount of showmanship involved." Ichika answered.

"That isn't showmanship, that's two girls pretending to be anime protagonists." Rin scoffed, as the two IS suits faced each other again, for yet another anti-climactic charge.

"I'll agree with you on that. You'd think that third-years would be more focused on actually winning." Ichika replied, and Rin nodded. For a few minutes, the room was quiet, before Rin spoke up again.

"Say, Ichika?"

"Yeah?"

"Those new instructors are military, right?" She asked.

"Most of them are." Ichika replied.

"Then how about we give them an Organization-style training match. It would be a nice change of pace for them." Rin suggested. If there was one thing the girl had liked about the Organization, it was the style of the training matches. Rather than being oriented around giving the crowd a good show and demonstrating the full capabilities of the participants' IS suits, it was a simple fight. No holding back, no showing off, and ending with the simulated 'death' of one of the participants. Rin had taken to the dueling style like a fish to water, as she had never enjoyed holding back, and when she showed off, she preferred it to be with overwhelming firepower.

"It certainly would. Checkmate finish?" Ichika asked, and Rin smiled.

"Sounds good! Now we just have to wait for these two jokers to finally get out of the arena... And all the ones after them... This could take a while." Rin sighed, as the two IS suits on screen charged each other again. Evidently, the superior of the two pilots had finally gotten bored and decided to end the match there. The alarms blared, and the two pilots exited the arena. The next pair, also composed of third-years, took their place, and the fight began anew.

To their credit, these two new pilots were less showy than their predecessors, but Ichika soon noticed some very familiar aspects of their fighting style. Apparently, both of them were trying to emulate his older sister and finish the battle with a single blow. Fortunately, one of their strikes managed to land after a few minutes of intermittent combat and dialogue, and the next pair promptly entered.

After nearly an hour had passed, it was finally their turn.

"Let's give the crowd a real fight, shall we?" Rin said as the ShenLong took form around her.

"Roger that! Let's do this." Ichika replied, smiling at his childhood friend before the Infinite Arsenal's helmet covered his face. The two of them flew into the arena, circling it once before taking up positions on opposite ends.

"And now, representing Class 1-1, we have Orimura Ichika, flying the Infinite Arsenal as the representative candidate of White-Sakamoto Innovations, going up against Huang LingYin from Class 1-2, flying the ShenLong as the representative candidate of the Peoples' Republic of China!" The announcer spoke, as both Rin and Ichika lined up their weapons, preparing to open fire.

"Let the match begin in 3... 2... 1... BEGIN!" The alarm blared, and less than a second later, bright blue plasma and invisible Impact Cannon blasts flew through the arena air, as both contestants opened fire. Neither barrage hit, as both Ichika and Rin had performed evasive maneuvers even as they opened fire.

Then, six knife missiles and four spotting drones came into being around the Infinite Arsenal, as Ichika rapid-switched his railgun out for the Invisible Glare Mark II laser, with two more identical weapons appearing on shoulder mounts. He had improved the laser rifle's design over the summer, and while it still created the dense screen of vapor when it fired, it was now capable of projecting its beam continuously, as opposed to short bursts, and the distinctive glow of superheated components had been hidden.

Opening fire, Ichika quickly shrouded himself in mist, while his drones took up position above the arena, his four spotting drones mixed in among the knife missiles. All of the remote-controlled units were moving in randomized patterns, designed to make it difficult to track any single drone with the naked eye. However, that did not stop Rin from firing into the swarm as she evaded the Invisible Glare's beams, which quickly melted the sand of the arena floor into glass.

More drones rose to join the swarm, with cannon drones joining the camera and knife drones already in the air, while suicide drones pursued their quarry directly, forcing her to divert fire onto them. Soon, Rin was forced squarely on the defensive, dodging both Ichika's laser beam and drone-based plasma fire, while trying to clear her tail of agile, remote-controlled missiles. However, in spite of her evasive actions, occasional plasma bolts met their mark, and one of the three laser beams would periodically clip her IS, causing further damage. If things continued as they were, Rin would lose the match without scoring a single hit.

However, the Chinese representative candidate had no intentions of losing in such a humiliating manner. Suddenly, she stopped her evasive circling of the arena and activated her suit's Landslide module, overclocking her suit's engines, and shield resistance modules. Her vaguely circular flight path suddenly became a beeline towards the cloud of mist that contained her opponent, her overclocked shields absorbing the lasers with little damage taken. Seconds later, she vanished from view, disappearing into the cloud, leaving the audience with no way of knowing just what was going on. Loud clangs and crashes emanated from within as the two IS suits fought in melee. Then, the ShenLong's primary weapon, the Souten Gagetsu staff, came spinning out of the cloud, embedding itself into the arena floor. Seconds later, the Infinite Arsenal plummeted out of the cloud, its bulky ranged weapons swapped out for energy katars. Moments later, the ShenLong exited the now-dispersing cloud, a swarm of knife missiles hot on its tail. Several of the drones exploded as impact cannon rounds met their mark, the two Dragon cannons firing backwards into the swarm. To the crowd, it seemed as though Rin was able to perfectly split her focus between the drones behind her and her opponent in front, but both contestants knew that it was really the ShenLong's newly installed AI at the firing controls, while Rin was focused entirely on the Infinite Arsenal.

Closing with her opponent, Rin's opening punch was blocked by a shield drone, before Ichika countered. The two IS suits fought for a moment in a brutal display of IS-based martial arts, blocking each others' punches and kicks before replying with strikes of their own. Knowing that they would encumber him in close quarters, Ichika had rapid-switched away his shoulder-mounted lasers, exchanging them for unusually-positioned energy katars, one of which was quickly driven into the ShenLong's center, being halted by a shield mere inches away from Rin's face. However, the sight only caused Rin to smirk. Finally, she had Ichika in the perfect position, and with a quick activation of the weapon's magnetic recall system, the Souten Gagetsu was ripped out of the arena floor and sent spinning into the Infinite Arsenal's back. Rin was moving even before the weapon struck, and by the time the staff had connected she was already flying in an inverted position, her face mere inches away from Ichika's own helmeted head.

Once her weapon struck, a second application of the magnetic recall system sent it back to her hand. Splitting the weapon into its dual sword form, Rin prepared to strike, only for her eyes to widen as she saw the telltale-flash of Ichika rapid-switching one of his shoulder-mounted energy katars out for his dual-barreled plasma cannon. In retrieving her weapon, she had given him enough room to effectively deploy the weapon, and at this range, he could not miss. However, Ichika was still turning around to face her, and the mount still had a moment left to traverse before it could target her, giving Rin enough time for a single strike. Her right blade's edge glowed a bright pink as she activated the sub-atomic edge and prepared to strike a blow that would end the match. However, rather than allow the strike to impact the Infinite Arsenal's torso, where it would be counted as a killing blow, Ichika was ready. Suddenly, his suit's left arm rotated at the elbow in a manner impossible to duplicate with the human body. Rin's strike slammed into the limb, the brittle sub-atomic edge shattering prematurely, damaging the arm but not triggering the Infinite Arsenal's ADS. Before she could strike with her second blade, Ichika's shoulder-mounted gun finished traversing, and at point-blank range, it was impossible for him to miss.

A short burst of plasma fire slammed into Rin's shields, but before they could be fully dropped, her second blade connected with the weapon mount, its subatomic edge sending shrapnel into the weapon, disabling it before it could fire again.

At that moment, the Infinite Arsenal and the ShenLong were both left with severely depleted shields. One strike would end the match, and Rin leaped forward, her victory almost at hand. However, just as her blade was about to connect, something materialized in the space between her and Ichika. Her eyes widened as the knife missile came into being, its energy blade igniting just as her weapon made contact. However, just as her weakened shield ticked down to zero, an impact cannon blast destroyed the drone, preventing her ADS from triggering. A few feet away, Ichika's ADS triggered with a brief flash of light, and the alarm blared, signalling the end of the match.

"And the winner is... Huang LingYin, from Class 1-2! I don't know about you, but I certainly did not see this coming! Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear a round of applause for these two fine young pilots!" The announcer declared, and the arena burst into applause, just like it had with all the other fights. However, Ichika sensed that this time, the cheering was just a little more genuine than it was before, although that might be attributed to the fangirls more than anything.

Stowing away his IS suit, Ichika landed on a patch of un-glassed sand, watching as Rin did the same.

"Checkmate!" Rin declared as she walked up to him.

"I should have deployed a gun drone." Ichika grumbled good-naturedly as he shook hands with his friend.

"I've certainly gotten better, that's for sure!" Rin replied as the two of them made their way out of the arena.

"Definitely. Do you want to watch the last fight?" Ichika asked.

"Sure!" Rin replied as they exited their arena. They quickly made their way to the stands, not bothering to change out of their pilot suits, and sat down in an empty pair of seats.

"Hello there, Orimura. Fancy seeing you here." The familiar voice caused the pair of them to look behind them.

"Stukanov-san? What are you doing here?" Ichika spoke first.

"Yes. Although I believe the correct term would be 'Stukanov-sensei'." The ex-Spetsnaz replied.

"Wait, you're one of the new instructors?" Ichika exclaimed, shocked.

"That I am. I'd tell you more, but the next match is about to start, and I believe you wanted to watch. I would, however, like to talk to you later, after the match is over." Giorgi replied, gesturing down at the arena below, where Kanzashi was facing down a student from Class 1-3.

The ensuing match went as expected, with Kanzashi mopping the floor with her opponent. Scarcely five minutes after the first shots were fired, Kanzashi had stowed away her IS and walked out of the arena to polite, if slightly disappointed applause. Evidently, the crowd was expecting another spectacle like Ichika's match against Rin, rather than the one-sided battle that had taken place.

* * *

Giorgi waved him aside as the students began to file out of the stadium. There was still some time remaining before the assembly, which had been allocated to classes.

"So, why are you really here? It seems strange that the Organization would send an Operations commander to act as a teacher here." Ichika asked once he and Giorgi were alone.

"I take it you haven't heard?" Giorgi replied.

"Heard what?" Ichika asked.

"I'm getting old, Ichika, too old for combat duty, so I've been retired from active service as an Ops commander. I haven't been on a real mission for nearly a year now, and they finally made it official last month. I've been confined to the base for a while now, acting as a trainer for new recruits and prospective officers even before I was officially retired." Giorgi replied, sighing.

"Ah... That doesn't answer my question though. Why are you here, and not some IS instructor?" Ichika asked, curious.

"I couldn't take being confined to the base any more, so as soon as I heard about this job, I volunteered. Officially, I'm here as a martial arts and physical education instructor. The old 'IS is an extension of your body, so keep fit' saying rings true, after all. Unofficially, I am here to help safeguard the Organization's latest investment." The Russian man answered.

"What investment?" Ichika asked.

"Recruits. At the moment, we can produce IS suits faster than we can acquire pilots for them. We currently plan on expanding our recruitment pool with regards to IS Academy."

"How so? Don't most IS Academy graduates go on to enter their nation's military?"

"Most is not all. For all it's merits, IS Academy is an incredibly flawed institution that caters specifically to the top five percent of pilots that can call themselves Representative Candidates. Only they can truly make the most out of their time at IS Academy, with the training specifically oriented towards them."

"Really?"

"Yes. For example, I believe your older sister is teaching about the Rapid Switch maneuver today. Rapid Switch is a move where a pilot stows away their currently equipped weapon and quickly deploys another in its place. It is critical to the successful operation of a TIS, and completely useless for MPIS pilots, whose suits lack a true deployment system. However, that does not stop her from teaching it to a class of both representative candidates and normal students, although admittedly, her class does have a higher ratio of representatives to normal students... But that is besides the point. The issue is, only five percent of IS Academy's students truly benefit from all the courses here, and this five percent is composed entirely of representative candidates. This five percent will go on to almost certainly become world-famous IS pilots, represent their nations in the Mondo Grosso, get nice six-figure salaries and retire early on private islands with blackjack, hookers, secret volcano lairs, and whatever else suits their fancy."

"I see. What about the rest of the students?"

"The vast majority of them, say, eighty percent, go into their national IS corps and get quickly forgotten. No fame there, and chances of becoming rich and successful are slim, to say the least. However, they know that this is what they signed up for when they entered IS Academy. Then, there's the final fifteen percent, and that's where it gets messy."

"How so?"

"That last fifteen percent is composed of students who gambled solely on being made representative candidate during their stay at IS Academy and lost. These students are still hoping for fame and fortune, and know that they won't get it by serving in their nations' armed forces. Some go into the work force, but they are at a disadvantage, as the time they spent learning how to fly an IS was time not spent learning advanced mathematics and other such skills. Thus, they are generally unable to get into a good college, and once again disappear into society. Other such students know this, and instead attempt to seek success through less than scrupulous means. A skilled IS pilot can find a well-paying job in the employ of one of the many warlords in Africa and, as of late, Russia. If they manage to get their hands on an MPIS before finding such employment, the money they earn goes up exponentially. If they manage to somehow get access to a TIS, they don't have to find employment under a warlord, they can easily become one. Fortunately, that last category remains fully hypothetical, but the other two... A good portion of Central Russia's IS pilots fall into them. A few of these disgruntled IS Academy graduates fall into the grasp of Phantom Task, or manage to get the attention of our recruiters, like Wing Commander Fujimura."

"I see. So the current plan is to get to these graduates first?"

"Exactly. By stationing additional people at IS Academy, we can contact them for recruitment long before they can go mercenary or attract the attention of Phantom Task. That is why I am here, along with a few spooks from the intel division. Now, your next class starts right about now, so you are going to be late, especially if you plan on changing out of that pilot suit. As your new teacher, it is my solemn duty to provide you with an alibi. Now go get changed. I would rather not have your sister angry at me, so don't mention me by name if you can." Giorgi announced. It was as plain a dismissal as any, and after a quick look at the clock, Ichika saw that the older man was right.

"It was nice talking to you, Stukanov-san." Ichika said as he stood up.

"Likewise, Orimura. Oh, and I do hope that you have been continuing with the exercises I have assigned you. Otherwise I might have to take some rather unpleasant actions." Giorgi warned.

"Of course I have. I learned my lesson." Ichika replied, before leaving the room.

* * *

The male changing room was empty as usual when Ichika walked in. He quickly changed out of his pilot suit and back into his school uniform, but before he could leave, a pair of hands covered his eyes.

"Guess who?" Tatenashi sang out from behind him.

"What is it, Tatenashi?" Ichika replied.

"Nothing really. I was just bored." Tatenashi replied, removing her hands with a smirk.

"You know, you're running late to your sister's class." She commented.

"I know. I have an alibi, so I don't need to rush." Ichika replied.

"Oh really? I take it you were talking with one of the new so-called instructors?" Tatenashi asked with a knowing smile.

"Of course. I take it that you've already had a similar conversation?"

"I have, as well as a few others."

"I see. Is one of those conversations the reason you've infiltrated the male changing room like some kind of pervert?" That caused Tatenashi to giggle.

"You would be correct in thinking that, Ichika-kun. Rest assured that you will be seeing a lot of me in the near future. Now, I suggest you get to class. Your alibi will only hold you over for so long!" The blue-haired girl said, before turning and walking away. Ichika sighed, and headed out behind her, quickly making his way back to Class 1-1's homeroom.

He was met at the door by an irate Chifuyu.

"How kind of you to finally grace us with your presence, Orimura. Do you care to explain why you are late?" His older sister demanded, fixing him in her patented glare that was known to cause some of the less-courageous girls in her class to break down and beg for mercy with mere seconds of exposure.

Fortunately for him, Ichika was made of sterner stuff, and replied without missing a beat.

"One of the new instructors requested that I speak with him. He also requested that he remain anonymous, to avoid drawing your ire." Quirking an eyebrow at that, Chifuyu gave her response.

"Of the new instructors, only three were male, and only one would have any reason to speak with you. Rest assured that I will be paying Stukanov a visit very soon. Now, you are to demonstrate Rapid Switch to the rest of the class, as you seemed rather competent in its use during your recent match against Class 1-2's representative." Ichika nodded at that, and partially deployed his IS suit's undamaged right arm.

"Rapid Switch is a technique designed to quickly stow one weapon away and deploy another in its place." Ichika said, earning himself a whack on the head from his older sister.

"Do not lecture. Demonstrate." Chifuyu ordered.

"I will now demonstrate Rapid Switch by swapping out an energy katar for a railgun." Ichika continued, and in a flash of light, it was done. When Chifuyu nodded, he stowed away his partially deployed IS and returned to his seat, allowing Chifuyu to continue her lecture.

* * *

Class quickly ended, and the various students were ushered into the IS Academy auditorium, for the long-awaited assembly that would announce the most drastic changes to the IS Academy curriculum since its founding. While Ichika had a fair idea of what was going on, the rest of the students were chattering excitedly, wondering just what was going on.

Soon, the entire school was standing neatly inside the giant auditorium, at which point the PA spoke up.

"Now, the Student Council President will explain the details of this assembly. Please remain quiet for the duration of the announcement." As the woman on the PA was speaking, Ichika saw Tatenashi walk up to the podium, an uncharacteristically serious expression on her face. Clearing her throat, she leaned over to the microphone and addressed the assembled crowd.

"Hello everyone, and thank you for coming here today. I only wish that I had better news to announce than this." That opening certainly ended any whispered conversations that were taking place.

"Most of you may already know me as Sarashiki Tatenashi, head of the student council. It is a pleasure to meet you all." Tatenashi paused for a moment, before continuing.

"Normally, the purpose of this assembly is to simply announce the upcoming school festival, which incidentally, is coming up later this month. That being said, I wish you all luck in deciding what you will do as a class. The deadline is coming up soon, so don't take too long." At that, the excited whispering began again, but Tatenashi quickly cut it off.

"Now for the real purpose of this assembly. The recent tragedy that took place during the First Year end-of-semester field trip has led to a significant re-evaluation of our school curriculum. Previously, the purpose of this academy was to train students to become skilled individual IS pilots for the purpose of eventually participating in tournaments such as the Mondo Grosso." At that, Ichika heard a few older students scoff behind him.

"However, this recent tragedy has caused us to re-consider this focus. At the moment, you are being trained in a traditional classroom setting, where all non-representative candidates receive relatively little practical experience. I am happy to say that this will change. The purpose of this new curriculum is to ensure that every single student here is capable of defending themselves and those around them in the event of a similar attack occurring some time in the future. While we do not expect such an attack to occur again, I believe the saying is 'better safe than sorry.'" Tatenashi punctuated that statement by opening her fan, which had that exact same statement imprinted upon it.

"To accomplish the objective of safeguarding the academy, all representative candidates will now be placed onto the IS Academy secondary combat roster, rather than just the third year representatives. In addition, all other IS Academy students will be placed on the newly formed Tertiary combat roster. The details of this change will be explained in a guidebook distributed at the end of this assembly." That caused another wave of worried whispers to break out among the assembled students.

"Isn't this prohibited by the IS Academy Charter?" One of the girls next to him exclaimed.

"No, it is not. The IS Academy charter allows for any necessary and proper action to be taken in order to keep the students of this academy safe. Now that the worst news is out of the way, I would like to summarize the changes to the school curriculum. Firstly, the IS Academy IS Fleet has been expanded. Every single student shall be given their own personal IS-" Whatever Tatenashi was about to say was cut off as a massive cheer went up among the Second and Third year students. An amused smile on her face, Tatenashi allowed the cheering to go on for a moment, she spoke up again.

"Alright everyone, settle down. These new IS suits are specially built trainers, designated the 'Blank Slate' third-generation MPIS Trainer, was provided to us by several corporations, chief among them being White-Sakamoto Innovations, Aero Infini Industries, and the Alcott Foundation. As such, I would like to extend a personal thank-you to Orimura Ichika, Charlotte Dunois, and Cecilia Alcott for their assistance in negotiating favorable production contracts with these corporations. In addition, as per requests from certain upper-year students, Uchigane Type-T trainers and Raphael Revive BTC units are available." That revelation caused the girl beside him to turn to Ichika.

"Orimura-kun? You knew about this?" She asked.

"A little, yes." He replied, before Tatenashi continued.

"Secondly, after this assembly is over, you all will be divided into squadrons of five. These squadrons will optimally be composed of one TIS pilot and four MPIS pilots. Any leftover students will be assembled into squadrons of five MPIS pilots with an attached special instructor, so as not to give any squadron an unfair advantage. Tournaments will now be between squadrons, rather than between individuals. The general format of tournaments has also been re-evaluated to better imitate real-world conditions." Tatenashi announced to the now-attentive students.

"Finally, the format of classes has been changed. Previously, students would learn in a traditional homeroom-based classroom setting. This is no longer the case. Now, a significantly larger amount of courses are available thanks to the increased amount of instructors present. It will be up to each squadron to determine which classes to take. Each squadron will then be evaluated in a quarterly tournament, and be graded based upon those evaluations. All grades will be made public, and squadrons will be individually ranked. I believe that this is enough to inspire success in all squadrons, as a high-scoring squadron will not only be much more likely to catch the eye of a representative candidate recruiter, but can also mean better employment prospects outside of IS Academy. Finally, if you do not particularly care about your future, the incentive of putting your name at the top of the leaderboard is still there. Any questions?" A hand was raised from the back of the room.

"Are there going to be separate leaderboards for each grade of students?" The girl asked.

"No. Students will be graded independently of grade level. If you're a third year, and get beaten by a first year, tough luck, because that will be reflected in your evaluation." Tatenashi answered.

A few moments passed, before Tatenashi spoke up again.

"If there are no more questions, then please wait here until you are called, at which point you will exit the auditorium via the main doors. A reminder that Uchigane and Revive trainers will be distributed on a first-come first-serve basis unless otherwise reserved. First-year students will be called first, followed by second and third years." Tatenashi announced, before turning and walking off the stage.

"Alcott, Cecilia!" The PA crackled to life, and the girl in question walked out the door.

"Bodewig, Laura!" The silver-haired girl was next.

"Dunois, Charlotte!" It seemed as though they were calling representative candidates first, so as not to give away any information about squadron composition. That meant that, if they were also doing it by class, he was next.

"Orimura Ichika!" There it was. The girls around him made way as he left, heading back out the auditorium. Outside, he was met by two unfamiliar instructors, who ordered him to proceed to a pre-assigned meeting room. In his case, it was Room 441, a small room usually reserved for IS Maintenance courses. There was a manual on a table in the center of the room, labeled 'Squadron 007-1 Information'. Evidently, that was his squadron number. Opening it, he began to read.

"So, Ori, what do you think of this?" He asked after a few minutes, causing the AI's avatar to shimmer into being.

"I think that this new Squadron-based curriculum has the Organization's hands all over it. If they truly wanted self-defense, they would not have re-written the entire curriculum to focus on real-life combat. I believe that this is simply another ploy to get more skilled IS pilots inducted into the Organization." Ori replied.

"Figures. Maya and Tatenashi were probably responsible for most of it." Ichika replied.

"So what do you think about all of this?" Ori asked. Ichika considered his words for a moment before he replied.

"I think... Never mind. I hope that the Organization does not attempt to pressure students into joining, or otherwise attempt to induct unwilling members." Ichika replied.

"I see." Ori replied as Ichika turned to a page that contained a map of IS Academy and the surrounding waters. Large swathes of the surrounding area were marked green, which meant they were open to all students for training purposes at all times. Other areas were marked yellow, meaning that one had to get permission to use that airspace for private training, and finally, red denoted restricted airspace, where students were not allowed to fly.

A knock on the door caused Ori to shimmer away before she could comment.

"H-Hello? Is anyone in there?" A girl's voice asked.

"Come in." Ichika replied, and promptly heard a shocked gasp. When nobody opened the door, Ichika walked up and looked outside, only to come face to face with a blushing girl from his class.

"H-Hello..." The girl murmured.

"Hello. I take it you are in my squadron?" Ichika asked.

"Y-Yes..." The girl stammered.

"Good. Come inside. I'll wait until everyone is here before beginning introductions." Ichika replied, and the girl entered.

A few minutes later, a second knock came, with similar results when Ichika called for the girl to enter. The sequence repeated itself until finally Ichika found himself alone in the room with four nervous girls. Clearing his throat, he addressed the group.

"Hello everyone. Now, since we are apparently a squadron, I believe we should get to know each other. Do any of you want to start, or shall I go first?" Ichika asked, attempting to break the ice between himself and the girls in the room.

When no answer came, he sighed slightly, before speaking again.

"Very well. I am sure you all know my name by now, but if you don't, I am Orimura Ichika, representative candidate of WSI. I like building IS suits, cool new technology, and spy novels. I hope to someday graduate IS Academy and put my skills to use in some way other than pointless combat in the arena, and I believe this new curriculum is perfect for realizing that dream." He spoke rapidly.

"Now, who's next?" He asked. After a few moments, the girl sitting on his right, her glasses glinting in the dim light of the room, spoke up.

"Hello... My name is Miyuki Sakura. I... I like cookies, fluffy kittens, and things that go boom, like the Raphael Revive Mark-four modular rocket-propelled fully automatic cluster bomb launcher loaded with high-explosive-incendiary rounds! I... I hope to become a representative candidate one day!" While she had started out soft, her voice had risen to a fever pitch as she was describing her preferred weapon of choice, her brown eyes widening until she suddenly caught herself, and returned to her soft speech when describing her desire to become a representative candidate.

The next girl to speak was a redhead with bright blue eyes, her voice somewhat bolder than Sakura's, with a noticeable American accent to it.

"Okay... My name is Theresa Takahashi, and I like strategy games, Combat Stratos, and chess, because sometimes the classics are better. I dislike franchises that feel the need to re-release the same crap every damn year, World of IS, because Combat Stratos is clearly superior, and Checkers, because Chess is better. I someday hope to see my name at the top of the IS Academy leaderboard. Maybe then I'll finally get a cool TIS suit!" Theresa said.

Next up was a tall, black-haired girl, who had styled her hair in an attempt to emulate Chifuyu.

"Hello. My name is Tsukigami Ayane, and I like IS combat, Orimura-sensei, and watching the Mondo Grosso. I dislike insincere fangirls, and I someday hope to participate in the Mondo Grosso and earn the title of Brunhilde." The girl spoke, and Ichika groaned inwardly. A Chifuyu fangirl was not something he wanted to deal with.

The last girl to speak was also the first one he let in, a small, mousy-looking brunette.

"H-Hello, my name is Hayate Rei... I-I like anime, mecha, and Orimura-sensei... I someday hope to... I hope to... I want to be strong like Orimura-sensei!" Those last words were mumbled under her breath.

For a moment, the room was silent as Ichika took in what he had to work with. A calm girl who may or may not be repressing explosive insanity, a gamer, a Chifuyu fangirl, and a girl who apparently had some severe confidence issues.

"Alright." He began after a few moments.

"Now that we all know each other, let's head over to the IS bay. I want you all to get a feel for what you will be flying, as well as some ideas for how you want them customized." He said, standing up.

"Wait." Theresa spoke up before anyone else could stand.

"What is it?" Ichika asked.

"You think that just because you're the representative candidate, you're automatically the team leader?" She demanded, causing him to turn.

"I didn't say anything of the sort. However, I actually have an idea of what is going on, so I thought it best to at least get acquainted and ensure that you all get your new IS suits before picking a squadron leader. However, if you want to pick a leader now, be my guest. I assume you're running against me?" He challenged.

"As a matter of fact, I am. As for the rest of you, who do you think will make a better leader?" Theresa asked, turning to the rest of the room.

"Orimura-san, of course. Given how incredible his sister is, I believe her brother would be similarly effective." Ayane answered immediately.

"Well of course a fangirl like you would say that. What about you, Rei?" Theresa asked, turning to the small girl, who quivered slightly as she was fixed in her glare.

"I... I think Ichika-kun should be leader... A-At least until we know if he's good or not..." She murmured.

"Rei-chan is right. Whether you like it or not, Orimura-san is a representative candidate. That means he has specialized training to match his IS. Plus, he does have some experience with leadership. Remember when he and that Charlotte girl fought Laura and that other girl? From what I heard, he not only devised the strategy to defeat his opponent, but also built the equipment necessary for that plan to work. If he can apply the same amount of effort to making our squadron succeed, I have high hopes for our future." Sakura finished.

For a moment, Theresa was silent, before she sighed.

"Fine. Orimura Ichika, you have command of squadron... What is our squadron called again?"

"We're Squadron 007-1 for now, but we can rename it." Ichika replied.

"Yeah. You have command of Squadron 007-1... So long as you remain a competent leader. Any sign of incompetence and I will end you. Are we clear?" Theresa said, evidently deciding not to argue against the rest of her squadron.

"You would have to get in line." Ichika replied, causing Sakura to laugh.

"Anyway, let's go to the IS bays. I'd like to see how you girls fly before starting to work on your machines. One of the perks of negotiating a contract with WSI meant that I knew this was coming, so I designed a few MPIS-usable weapons over the summer. However, I'd like to get an idea of how you guys fly before making any modifications to your IS suits." Ichika continued, leading the way out the door.

The newly-assembled Squadron 007-1 quickly made their way to the IS storage hangars, the girls gasping slightly as the building came into view. Apparently, the school had enough IS suits that they could not all fit into the building, and hundreds of mass-produced mech suits were lined up outside.

Ichika did not pay much attention to the sight, instead walking up to a staff member who sat on a bench outside, working on a laptop.

"Excuse me?" He asked.

"Yeah? Oh joy, looks like my first customer is here. I'm afraid the Revives and Uchiganes are all reserved, so unless someone cancels you're going to have to stick with the Blank Slates." The man replied.

"Blank Slates would be perfect. I'll take four." Ichika replied.

"Very well. I need the number of your squadron and the names of all members acquiring an IS."

"I'm from Squadron 007-1. The members getting an IS are Miyuki Sakura, Takahashi Theresa, Tsukigami Ayane, and Hayate Rei." Ichika listed off, the staff member typing away for a few moments before replying.

"Looks like it all checks out. Your squadron has been assigned the following IS suits: BS-001, BS-002, BS-003, and BS-004. Those designations are painted on their left shoulders, so have fun looking for them. They're hot off the production line, so try not to mess them up. IS Academy isn't paying for replacements." He said.

"Sounds good. Thank you for your time." Ichika replied, before heading off to where his squadron stood a few feet away.

"Allright. Miyuki-san, your IS is the one with BS-001 painted on its left shoulder. Takahashi-san, yours is BS-002. Tsukigami-san, yours is BS-003. Hayate-san, you get BS-004. They are all identical, so feel free to switch out if you wish. Once you find your suits, I want you all to fly to IS Academy's East beach. I will see you there." Ichika said, and the four girls nodded, sprinting off every which way in search of their IS suits. Quickly deploying the Infinite Arsenal, Ichika flew off to the designated beach.

"Ori, can you pull up the data on the Blank Slate for me?" Ichika asked as he flew.

"Sure. Here it is." A holographic display shimmered into view as the AI spoke.

The Blank Slate was an IS designed and built in accordance to very specific blueprints provided by IS Academy. It really was a blank slate, as it had next to nothing on it. No weapons, basic impulse drives and control units, and rudimentary shielding. It was, of course, equipped with an ADS, and did possess one notable piece of equipment in the form of the One-Shot Remote Deployment unit. This device allowed the pilot to deploy the IS even outside the wireless power transmission range of IS Academy. However, the device could not stow the IS, and had to be recharged at a specialized station before it could be reused. Fortunately, it ran off a separate power supply, so the deployed IS did not have its flight time affected.

However, the Blank Slate was ultimately an IS designed to be built extremely cheaply en-masse, which allowed the various contracted corporations to meet IS Academy's order within the short timeframe they were allowed. In addition, its design allowed for total customization, without any restrictions. Even the Raphael Revive, a design renowned for its customizability and versatility, would be unable to compete with the Blank Slate in terms of sheer variety of possible modifications. Of course, the Revive was actually combat-ready when it came out of the box, giving it a significant advantage over the Blank Slate in terms of active-usage prospects, but as a trainer? The Blank Slate was perfect.

A few minutes later, he looked up to see four skeletal blank Slates descend from above. As soon as the rest of his squadron had landed, Theresa dismounted and stormed towards him, and enraged expression on her face.

"What kind of crap IS suit did you make us get? I thought we were going down early to get Revives, not... not these pieces of shit!" The girl raged.

"Of course the Blank Slate is crap right now, it's got nothing on it. Once I get an idea of how you girls fly and fight, I plan on tailoring these suits to match. Until then, take these. The Blank Slate should have a functional Equalizer system, so try these weapons out." Ichika materialized a dozen Equalizer units and handed them to the girl.

"These are a few projects I worked on over the summer. I say we go out and try them out. They're designed for mass production units linked to IS Academy's power grid, so as long as you're within wireless power range you should be able to stow and deploy them at will." Ichika continued as Theresa headed back to her IS, Equalizer units in hand.

Dividing them into four sets of three, she handed them to the rest of 007-1 squadron. Then, she clambered back into her IS suit.

"Alright, fine, we'll do it your way. How long is the range of IS Academy's power transmitter?" She asked.

"Far enough that we'll be in restricted airspace before we have to worry about our power supply." Ichika replied as he took flight, the four girls taking flight around him.

"Um... O-Orimura-san? H-How do I deploy my weapons?" Rei spoke up over the radio.

"Hmm, easiest way right now is to just say 'Deploy Equalizer Slot' followed by whatever number slot you put the weapon in. Eventually, I hope to have you all deploying without having to say anything, but for now that will have to do." Ichika replied over squadron-wide comms.

"Alright then... Deploy Equalizer Slot One!" Sakura declared, and with a flash of light, a large weapon took form in her arms, while an immense ammo drum appeared on her back.

"What's this?" Sakura asked as she inspected her new armament.

"Hmm, that looks like Project 8. Think eight twenty-five millimeter rotary cannons slaved to a single trigger and you'll have a good idea." Ichika replied. He had come up with that particular weapon one morning, and had it working by that same afternoon. It was quite literally eight 25mm three-barrel rotary cannons bolted together and fired with a single trigger. He figured that, with enough lead in the air, it could even pose a threat to a TIS.

A deafening roar interrupted his musings on the subject, as Sakura pulled the trigger and sprayed hot HVEI rounds into the air. However, as the Blank Slate lacked proper recoil bracing, the shots went wild. Down below, the surface of the Pacific ocean quickly became a mess of white foam as thousands of bullets hit the water.

Five seconds later, and weapon stopped firing, its ammunition stockpile exhausted, although Sakura's finger was still pushing down on the trigger, causing the barrels to keep on spinning.

"THAT! WAS! AWESOME! GIVE ME MORE AMMO!" Sakura screamed over squadron comms.

"We'll have to land to reload that gun. Glad you enjoyed it though." Ichika replied.

"WHAT?" Sakura asked. Evidently, she was still partially deafened by the gunfire.

"Nevermind. Anyone else want to give their guns a try? Every single one of those equalizers is unique, although I can't say they all have the same ridiculous fire rate as Project 8." Ichika replied.

"DEPLOY EQUALIZER SLOT TWO!" Sakura screamed out before he finished speaking, her voice loud enough to be heard even without the radio's assistance. Probably remembering the lesson from earlier that day, she was able to rapid-switch Project 8 away and exchange it for whatever weapon she had installed in her second equalizer slot.

"What's that?" Theresa asked, her voice almost fearful as she saw a giant cannon take form in Sakura's hands.

"Either Project 3 or Project-" Ichika's words were cut off by a loud 'BOOM!' as the weapon fired. Less than a second later, the weapon fired again, its user tumbling head over heels as her IS suit fought against recoil forces from a belt-fed, fully automatic 152 millimeter cannon.

"Definitely Project 3." Ichika commented at the sight.

"Are all the weapons you make like that?" Ayane spoke up, watching Sakura tumble through the air, still blazing away.

"I designed and built these in my spare time over the course of two weeks. I didn't really have enough time to make them practical." Ichika replied as Sakura stopped firing long enough to regain control of her spinning IS and pull up just before hitting the ocean.

"M-Maybe we can p-postpone the weapon testing..." Rei murmured, barely audible even over squadron comms.

"I agree. Maybe we can try out the rest of these after I've had the time to put in some proper recoil bracing..." Ichika trailed off.

"Yeah, that sounds reasonable." Theresa concluded.

"Allright, since these weapons are clearly impractical for use in an IS without proper recoil bracing, I'm going to have to postpone the tests until later. For now, I want the four of you to form up on me, five-ship wedge." Ichika ordered, now addressing his squadron.

"Aww..." Sakura reluctantly stowed away Project 3 and flew to join the rest of her squadron, taking up a position on the rear-left of Ayane. Once the squadron was in formation, Ichika continued his speech.

"My current plan is to divide you four into two elements of two pilots each, with one pilot being element lead, and the other being the wingman."

"So, like modern fighter pilots?" Theresa asked.

"Exactly. The element leader will be in command of their element, while the wingman covers the leader. In short, leader attacks, wingman covers the leader." Ichika replied.

"I see. What about you? You're not part of an element." Ayane asked.

"I will be flying independently, and acting in support of both elements." Ichika replied, glad that his squadron seemed to be understanding what they were supposed to do.

"Now, let's try some basic combat maneuvers. Theresa, you are in command of Element One. Rei is your wingman. Ayane, you are in command of Element Two. Sakura is your wingman."

"Roger!" The girls chorused.

"Alright, for the purposes of this exercise, I will be acting as an attacker. Element One, you're up first. Element Two, I want you to watch." Ichika replied, climbing up until he was about three kilometers above and behind the rest of his squadron.

"Allright Element One, I will dive on you from six o'clock high. I want to see how you two would counter such a move." He warned.

"But we don't have any weapons!" Theresa protested.

"I know. I just want to see how you would maneuver. You have fifteen seconds before I dive to come up with a plan, starting now!" Ichika replied, and started to count. At fifteen, he pitched down and dove on the two-IS formation below him, making sure that he kept his speed low. The last thing he wanted was to overshoot, but the Blank Slate was slow, which made keeping pace with one rather difficult.

As he closed with his targets, he deployed Ultramarine Storm, intending to use it to fire warning shots if one of the pair got into his sights. Then, at a distance of about one thousand meters, the two MPIS suits split up, forcing him to choose which one to pursue. After a moment of consideration, he went left, coming to rest about five hundred meters behind her. As soon as she noticed him, she began to jink wildly, making it hard for him to line her up in his sights, but still maintaining a general course towards her partner. His hyper-sensor enhanced hearing allowed him to pick out Theresa's voice shouting commands to her partner over a private channel. Then, Rei shot through the air behind him, quickly reversing direction to come up on his tail. Breaking off his attack on the Element One lead, he performed a variant of the Split-S maneuver, diving and reversing direction, while rolling onto his back and lining up a shot on Rei. To her credit, the girl broke off her pursuit and took evasive action, dodging the incoming shots despite her slow IS.

The mock dogfight continued for a few more minutes before Ichika called it quits. Evidently, Theresa did have some leadership skill to back up her talk from earlier that day, as she was able to talk Rei through an impressive series of defensive maneuvers, even while evading herself.

"So how did we do?" The girl in question asked as she flew up to him.

"Not bad at all. Hopefully, once your IS suits are all up to spec, we can try it again." Ichika replied, smiling.

"Yeah, then I'll be able to shoot back." Theresa replied.

"Hopefully I can get the Blank Slates up to spec by next week, although I don't guarantee anything. Now, let's see what Element Two can do. Ayane, Sakura, you're up!" Ichika replied, climbing back up to his starting position, while Element Two formed up below.

As he dove, and watched the two pilots scatter, he smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

Ichika sighed as he sank into the hot water of the boys' large bath.

"So, how is the new curriculum working out for you?" Tatenashi asked, having a seat beside him.

"Half of my squadron seems to know what it's doing. The other half is too busy either being a fangirl or dreaming of explosions to realize that break left means that both pilots break left, not 'one pilot goes left and the other goes right'! Fortunately, the shields absorbed the collision, so I don't have to do any repair work." Ichika replied.

"I say! I know I can't expect too much of them thanks to them not having the same amount of training as me, but still, I expected them to display a little more competence!" Cecilia added from where she sat, legs in the water. The current members of STS-01 were all assembled in their usual meeting room. Officially, this meeting was to discuss the new curriculum, but apparently, it was just that much easier to complain about the trainees they were assigned.

"I'm not surprised. If anything, the group I got has exceeded my expectations." Laura countered from where she leaned against the wall.

"How so?" Charlotte asked her.

"From what they told me, they all had two years of basic IS flight school before coming here. Over the course of those two years, they got about seventy-two hours of practical flight experience. Total."

"What? While I was in the British Representative Candidate training program, I got over a hundred flight hours every month!" Cecilia exclaimed.

"Exactly. It's not just the equipment that sets apart representative candidates from the average student, it's the amount of training they have. As far as I know, every single one of us logged over one thousand hours in their IS before coming here, with the exception of you, Houki-san... No offense." Charlotte added.

"None taken." Houki replied, although her voice suggested otherwise.

"Dunois-san is right. All representative candidates spend thousands of hours training in basic and advanced maneuvers, taking part in mock duels, and in some cases, acting as test pilots. Compared to that, the seventy-two hours of basic maneuvering training that most non-representative students get is horribly inadequate." Kanzashi spoke up.

"True, true. I'm surprised that one of my assigned squadron-mates even knew what a Thach Weave was, much less managed to talk her partner through it in order to catch me in one." Ichika added.

"A Thach weave?" Rin asked.

"It's a co-operative defensive maneuver developed-" Laura began, before Rin cut her off.

"I know what it is. What about it?" The Chinese girl asked again.

"I split my squadron into two elements for maneuvering practice, and one of my element leads was able to talk her partner through the move while I was on her tail. She was dodging all the while, and yet was able to calmly explain what to do in spite of her situation. Impressive, to say the least." Ichika explained.

"Hmm... Maybe she was a washed-out member of a representative candidate training program, that didn't make the cut for national representative, and was passed over with regards to becoming a corporate representative." Cecilia mused.

"Yeah, that does make sense. She did seem significantly more skilled than the rest of my bunch." Ichika replied.

"Disparities in training aside, what do you all think of this new curriculum? I am sure that Tatenashi-san would like to hear some feedback with regards to her work." Cecilia cut in, changing the subject with a pointed look at the student council president. Tatenashi merely laughed in response.

"As much as I would like to take credit for this, the new curriculum was not my creation. All I did was relay information about it to the Organization." That revelation caused shocked gasps to ripple through the room.

"Wait, so if the Organization was not responsible for it's creation, then who was?" Laura was the first to ask the question on everyone's mind.

"The IS Academy Principal walked up to me one morning and dropped off a prototype syllabus along with instructions to begin matching up students. Over the next few weeks I was gradually inducted into a small cabal of teachers and staff members, whose numbers included both Maya and Chifuyu. Apparently, my status as one of the last members of the Sarashiki family organization was enough to warrant their attention." Tatenashi explained.

"Wait, does that mean-" Laura began, before Tatenashi cut her off with a smile.

"Yes, it does. There is another player on the board, using this new curriculum to train and evaluate potential recruits, and it is based within IS Academy itself." The student council president spoke, stunning the room into silence.

* * *

 **A/N: And here it is! Another new chapter in this totally gripping saga! I have been planning this out for a while now, although not for the reasons you might expect. It has a few rough spots here and there, but I like what I did with it regardless.**

 **Now, on to my customary recap and opinion on the various events of the chapter. The first is the match against Rin, which I thoroughly enjoyed writing. It was a match that had very little impact on the plot in canon, so I was free to go and do what I want with it, leading to the finished product. Just as I was about to write up the battle's end, I flipped a coin to determine the winner. It landed on tails, so it ended up being Rin. I thought it fitting, all things considered, as Ichika no longer has the overwhelming advantage he had at the start of the fic. Rin's IS also contains an Organization AI now, and she is significantly more skilled and experienced than she was during her first fight against Ichika, so I would consider them evenly matched.**

 **As for Stukanov, his inclusion was a spur-of-the-moment thing, born mostly of laziness than anything else. I didn't want to write up another OC, so I decided to retire Giorgi from active duty due to his age and send him to IS Academy instead. It was a perfectly logical thing to do, and it saved the the effort of creating a new personality.**

 **As for the disparity between normal IS Academy students and Representative Candidates, it is very likely that this is the case in canon as well, although maybe in less grim terms. After all, IS Academy does seem to be tailored specifically to the special snowflake Representative Candidates, placing them into a more senior role, and teaching classes that cater more to them than anything. For example, early in Season One, you see Ichika and Cecilia demonstrating more advanced maneuvers to the rest of the class, namely how to reorient the IS into a standing position from a vertical dive and come to a hover right above the ground in a matter of seconds. However, immediately afterwards, we see a shot of a normal student using a training IS, and yet instead of practicing the maneuver, she is simply shown walking around. Cue romantic princess carry scene with Houki, end actual class snapshot. If Representative Candidates are taught advanced maneuvers, while the normal students are still learning how to walk, that is a huge disparity in skill, and it is one that grows wider with every year in IS Academy. Which begs the question: Why are representative candidates and normal students taught in mixed classrooms, rather than being separated into advanced and basic groups? Of course, we know the answer: So that Ichika and Houki can have their romance before Akatsubaki enters the equation, but a practical reason for such integration still eludes me. Is it an intentional snub, designed to boost the ego of representatives at the expense of other students? To drive home the point that 'You will never stand out?'**

 **Regardless, that is a moot point, now that I have introduced my most major deviation from canon to date, namely the Squadron system.**

 **I would be lying if I said it wasn't partially influenced by me re-reading Ender's Game during the planning period. I designed it to deliberately make it seem like the official purpose is just thinly veiled bullshit. After all, if they really wanted to just train students to defend themselves, they wouldn't be training people with the intent of making them act as offensive units, nor would they give everyone their own IS suit. What they're doing instead is more along the lines of creating an army hidden in plain sight, or at least, an army in training. Those that would go on to military careers would be better suited to them, while others are discreetly removed from the grid by the various secret organizations that have fingers in IS Academy... Phantom Task included.**

 **However, you can expect the canon 1v1/2v2 tournament to vanish from the scene, and be replaced with 5v5/10v10/7-way free for alls, in a more objective-oriented context. I understand that many of you have been asking for a greater deviation from canon, so here it is. I hope you all enjoy.**

 **EDIT: Just noticed that a small segment near the end got deleted. Just re-posted the chapter.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Ugh, I got nailed hard with writer's block for this chapter. Hopefully I managed to get this chapter right, but then again, I say this after every chapter. Maybe I should mix things up for a change... Maybe say that this chapter is perfect without any major flaws whatsoever... Yeah, I can dream.**

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

Tatenashi's revelation had left the group stunned. It was Ichika who recovered first.

"So, another secret organization is on the map. What does that mean for us?" He asked, concern plain on his face.

"Nothing for now. We won't be acting against it, if that's what you're asking. As of the moment, their only stated objective is the protection of IS Academy's students, and their current opponent is Phantom Task. If anything, as their current goals run concurrently to ours, we would be seeking to co-operate with them. For now, however, Maya and I have been ordered to simply observe. Our course of action will be decided later." Tatenashi replied.

"I see..." Ichika trailed off.

"You're concerned about your sister, aren't you?" Tatenashi asked, picking up on his thoughts. Ichika's only response was a nod.

"From what I gather, the Organization is not intent on taking a hostile stance against the Teachers' Cabal. Don't worry, you won't have to fight your sister." The student council president said.

"And what if I do? What if this group of teachers does something that puts them at odds against our organization? The probability exists, Tatenashi, that I will have to take the Infinite Arsenal and turn it against Kurezakura. What will I do then? I can't fight my sister!" Ichika replied, his voice growing more and more panicked as he spoke.

"Don't worry, Ichika-kun, it won't happen." Tatenashi replied, her voice certain.

"And how do you know that? How do you know that the order won't come in for our unit to engage my sister in combat?" Ichika demanded.

"Yes Tatenashi, how are you so certain?" Laura added.

"I am so certain because I know Ichika won't let it happen. Isn't that right, Ichika-kun?" Tatenashi replied, looking him in the eye as she spoke. After a long moment, Ichika nodded in understanding.

"No, I won't. Now, is there anything else that needs discussion? If not, then consider this meeting adjourned." He said. After a moment, the assembled girls nodded and began to stand, Cecilia dropping the exit ladder.

Eventually, only Ichika and Tatenashi remained in the bath. For a while, neither of them spoke. Then, Tatenashi broke the silence.

"You're still worried, aren't you?" She asked, sitting up in the water, her swimsuit clinging to what little skin it covered.

"Of course I am. It would have been so much easier if it had just stayed as us versus Phantom Task." Ichika sighed, leaning back against the edge of the bath.

"Would you have preferred not knowing? Ignorance is bliss, after all." Tatenashi asked.

"No. I'm glad you told me this... Even if it's made my life a whole lot harder." Ichika replied.

"Well, I do hope you know that I'm willing to help. We all are."

"And I'm thankful for that. I... I honestly can't imagine what it would be like, dealing with this whole Organization business without having anyone to confide in." Tatenashi raised an eyebrow at that.

"You know, someone else might think you're living a perfect life. You're the only male in an all-female school, with a badass high-tech mech-suit at your disposal. You're also a secret agent, have impressive piloting skills, and a whole battle-harem of girls at your side."

"When you put it like that, it sounds like a male power fantasy... Although I wouldn't exactly call it a harem."

"Why not? Seven girls, all of them after you? Sounds like one to me." Ichika sighed at that.

"Sure, call it what you want..." He trailed off, before looking Tatenashi in the eye, the girl's smiling face inches away from his own.

"However, you of all people should know why I cannot return any of their affection." He finished.

"Even if they confess to your face?" Ichika sighed at that.

"Houki... I wish she hadn't confessed back then. Now... Every day I see her, I keep seeing her look at me, as if expecting something. I know exactly what she wants, Tatenashi, and I can't give it to her." Tatenashi shook her head at that.

"Why not?" She asked.

"You know why not." The blue-haired girl sighed at that.

"It's not healthy, Ichika. Eventually, something is going to happen that will make you regret your inaction." She said.

"I know... But I also know I will regret it if I do act." He sighed. Tatenashi considered him for a moment, before shaking her head and standing up out of the water, stretching as she did so.

"You're too damn good for your own good, you know that?" Ichika could do little more than nod at that.

"I guess I am." He replied, as Tatenashi dried herself off, before heading out of the bath. For a long while, Ichika just sat in the warm water, before finally leaving the room. Sleep did not come easily for him that night.

* * *

A few days later, the entirety of Class 1-1 met for its weekly homeroom, a short, thirty minute session before the students would go their separate ways. The subject of the day was, of course, the upcoming school festival, the students having gathered together, pooling their brainpower to devise the absolute best activity.

Then, the fangirls began to contribute, and it all went downhill from there. After giving the girls about fifteen minutes to discuss ideas, Ichika found himself reading through their final submissions.

"Alright." He said after a long moment, causing the class to focus their attention on him.

"Before I begin, I would like to say that all of your submissions were very thoughtful, and that it was clear that you put a significant amount of effort into making them. I would like to add that I am having difficulty choosing just one because every single one of them was incredible." Ichika watched as the girls smiled proudly as the suggestions were displayed on the board.

"Of course, I'm not a liar, so I am not going to say any of that. This is unacceptable! Are you all idiots or something? I would have thought that at least some of you would have been able to come up with something that I didn't decline on sight, but apparently I was wrong." He continued, looking over at where Houki sat, the girl smiling sheepishly as she met his eyes.

"The School Festival calls for a class activity, where everyone contributes, not... Not this!" He shouted, gesturing at the holographic display behind him, where the ideas were listed side by side.

'Pocky with Orimura Ichika.'

'The King's Game with Orimura Ichika.'

'Twister with Orimura Ichika.'

'Orimura Ichika's Host Club.'

"Who would pay for such things anyway?" He exclaimed.

"I would!" The predictable response came almost immediately.

"Yeah! I definitely would!" Another girl joined in, and soon the entire classroom was voicing its assent.

"Yamada-sensei, back me up here! They're all crazy, right?" Ichika asked as the shouting continued with no sign of dying down.

"Hm? What? Well... I guess..." Maya looked up, as if woken from some sort of daze, looking around the room for a moment before smirking mischievously.

"I like the one with the Pocky!" The green-haired woman exclaimed, smirking at him. Ichika sighed, and turned back to the class.

"Regardless, none of these are class activities. The entire class has to contribute for a proposal to be acceptable." He spoke, quieting down the class.

"How about a maid cafe?" Laura spoke up, a faint blush on her face as she made the suggestion, her words drawing the attention of the entire class. Ichika hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to shut the proposal down immediately or wait to see what the silver-haired girl had in mind.

"Given what I know, it will definitely be well received, and the cafe will allow for us to earn back at least some of the money we spent on it in the first place." Laura continued, and Ichika had to admit there was a certain logic to the suggestion. Besides, if it was a maid cafe, that meant he didn't have to dress up.

"I think it's a good idea! We could have Ichika be a kitchen worker, or-" Charlotte began.

"-Or a butler! Think about it!" Cecilia finished, and Ichika's hopes plummeted.

"Orimura-kun? As a butler? That sounds amazing!" Another girl exclaimed.

"What about the uniforms?" Yet another girl asked.

"I know how to sew!"

"Looks like it's been settled! We'll do a maid and butler cafe with Orimura-kun!" With those words, the classroom exploded into cheers, and Ichika grimaced. As class representative, he had the power to veto the decision immediately, but for all he knew, it would only make someone else suggest something worse. After a few moments of indecision, he decided to bite the bullet and forced his grimace into a smile. After all, when he had first been inducted into the Organization, his most important duty was ensuring that the rest of the people in his department had a constant supply of coffee. He could just pretend that he was doing something similar, albeit with a different uniform. Sighing, he addressed the class.

"Very well. Unless any of you have any objections, I will write down our class as doing..." He sighed again.

"A maid cafe." A room full of thunderous cheers met his resigned statement.

* * *

"So how did it go?" A familiar voice stopped him as he exited the school's main office, and Ichika looked around to see Tatenashi walking up to him, her usual smile on her face.

"Well... We settled on a maid cafe... And I'm a butler. Make of it what you will." Ichika replied, leaning against the wall. The student council president laughed in response.

"What about you?" Ichika asked, curious as to what the student council president had come up with.

"Well... I was thinking of putting on a show of some kind, where all students were welcome to attend, for a small fee of course. For a larger fee, they could even participate in it. In fact, I was going to ask for you to help me out with it." The blue haired girl replied.

"What do you want me to do?" Ichika asked.

"Nothing much. Just put on some fancy clothes and walk around on stage for a bit. Maybe say a few lines, but no real acting will be required." Tatenashi replied. Ichika considered her words for a moment, before nodding.

"Fine, but try not to make the uniform too hideous." He replied.

"Aww, I'm hurt. Are you doubting my skill as a tailor?" Tatenashi pouted.

"So what are you doing here anyway?" Ichika replied, changing the subject.

"Well... As you may know, your sister and I are definitely not part of a secret organization based here in IS Academy." The girl said, smirking.

"Yeah, that is just ridiculous. What's next, did that nonexistent organization order you to do something with me?" Ichika replied, deciding to play along.

"Yes, actually. Orimura Ichika, meet your new bodyguard." Tatenashi replied.

"... Bodyguard?" Ichika replied after a few moments.

"Yup. Your sister ordered me to, and I quote here, 'Protect you and your IS from any and all threats'. Her words, not mine."

"Is my sister's opinion of my skill really that low? I do hope she knows I can take care of myself."

"Can you?" Tatenashi smiled.

"Can I what?"

"Take care of yourself. After all, you're just a first-year student, with less than a year of practical IS experience, who is being targeted by a world-spanning secret terrorist organization! How terrible!"

"Come on Tatenashi, you know what I can do." Ichika replied, laughing. Then, he noticed that the smile on the student council president's face was fading and stopped.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, concern replacing levity in his voice.

"Huh? Oh, no, it's nothing..." The blue haired girl replied, although her voice suggested otherwise. Then, a moment later, her familiar smile was back in place as she spoke up again.

"Say, Ichika, have you heard the latest news from China?" She asked.

"Not really, no." He replied, mindful of the change in subject.

"Yesterday, a Chinese tractor was subject to an unprovoked attack by Central Russian artillery. The tractor was reported to have promptly returned fire and neutralized the threat."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Apparently, the Chinese have threatened to reinforce the area with grain trucks and combine harvesters."

"Combine harvesters?"

"IS suits." Tatenashi's laugh was forced as she spoke the punch line.

"Look. If something is wrong, you can tell me." Ichika replied.

"I told you, there's nothing wrong." For a moment, Ichika considered pressing the topic, but ultimately decided against it.

"Alright. Is there anything else?" He asked.

"Not really. Just wanted you to know that you will be seeing a lot of me in the near future." Tatenashi replied, before turning away and leaving. Ichika looked at her retreating form for a moment, before turning and heading to the IS Academy Engineering Complex.

* * *

When he arrived, the rest of his squadron was already assembled, their IS suits already deployed and ready.

"What took you so long?" Theresa asked as he entered the workshop.

"Paperwork issues." Ichika replied, before addressing the group as a whole.

"Alright. Yesterday, I submitted a requisition form for some of WSI's experimental equipment, and it should arrive here in a few days. However, all of your Blank Slates have to be brought up to spec in order to handle the new tech. That means a full recoil bracing overhaul, re-tooling the impulse drive pods, adding in some armor plate, rebuilding the pilot compartment from scratch, upgrading the control system to at least gen-three level, expanding the wings, adding in additional equipment hardpoints, and increasing battery capacity for off-the-grid flight... Oh, and strip out any unnecessary equipment." Ichika finished, only to find four girls staring blankly at him.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"You lost me at impulse drive pods." Theresa replied, and Ichika sighed. This could take a while.

"Alright. Basically, we're taking these things apart, and re-building them to optimally take WSI gear." Ichika replied, partially deploying his IS suit's holo-projectors and displaying a hologram of the Blank Slate. As the girls watched, Ori disassembled the graphic into its separate components, before re-assembling it in the intended configuration.

"And you expect us to do all that in a matter of days?" Theresa demanded.

"I don't expect it to be finished by the time the new equipment arrives, but yes, I do think we'll be finished by the end of the week. The equipment here is advanced enough that we can automate a good portion of the process. I've reserved this engineering workshop for the week, so we won't have to worry about any interruptions." Ichika replied.

"Um... Orimura-san, what kind of equipment are we getting?" Sakura asked. In response, Ichika made a show of calling up a second hologram, this one being a list of items being shipped to IS Academy from WSI. While the equipment could just as easily be tested at the Organization's headquarters, WSI had to keep up its image as a corporation, and thus was sending experimental gear to IS Academy like any other corporation. This gear was intended for the next wave of MPTIS suits that were being developed, and its effectiveness would be tested both under controlled conditions at Organization HQ and in mock-battles at IS Academy.

"Whoa..." Sakura gasped as she looked over the list, the other girls crowding around her as she did so.

"I suggest you try and get a general idea of the gear you want now, so that when it arrives we can start installing it immediately." Ichika replied, before turning to where the squadron's four Blank Slates stood in assembly stations. Ichika had to admit, IS Academy had spared no expense in upgrading the workshop over the summer. The new workstations were just as advanced as the ones at Organization HQ, if not more so. He spent a few minutes familiarizing himself with the station's computer interface, and found that the Blank Slate's design data was already present in the machine. Disassembling the Blank Slate would be as easy as pushing a button and letting the workstation do the rest of the work. Finally, he turned back to the rest of his squadron.

"Alright, before we do anything else, we're going to have to disassemble these suits. Fortunately, these new workstations will do the job for you, you girls just have to find and hit the disassemble button."

"We're really doing this, aren't we..." Theresa sighed, before walking up to her IS and starting the disassembly process, the rest of the girls following her example. As soon as the button was pressed, an energy screen went up around the IS and several robotic arms extended from the walls, immediately going to work.

"So... What do we do now?" Sakura asked.

"Now, we wait. It will take several hours until disassembly is finished." Ichika replied.

"So, what do we do until then?" Ayane asked.

"Well, for starters, we can decide on a squadron name. I don't know about you, but I don't want to just be part of Squadron 007-1 forever!" Theresa suggested, and the rest of the girls nodded.

"Sounds good... Any suggestions?" Ichika asked.

"W-Well... Ichika-kun said he liked s-spy novels... A-and we're Squadron 007... So how about Bond Squadron?" It was Rei who spoke first. Immediately, Theresa rounded on her.

"Absolutely not!" She said.

"Why not? From what I've heard, James Bond is an excellent series about-" Ayane began, before Theresa cut her off.

"Have you actually read any of the James Bond books or watched any of the movies?" Theresa demanded.

"Well... No, but-"

"Well I have, and let me tell you, I am NOT going to be a part of Bond squadron! I mean, I am sure our squadron leader wouldn't mind having Bond as his callsign, but what about the rest of us? We'd be named after Bond Girls, and I am NOT going to go down in history as Squadron 007-1-2, Callsign: Octopussy!"

"O-O-Octopussy?" Ayane stammered out.

"Or would you prefer Pussy Galore, or maybe Holly Goodhead... Oh, wait, I know! Kissy Suzuki! Or maybe-"

"Enough. We are not Bond Squadron." Ichika cut the redhead off before she could continue.

"Glad you could see reason. Do you have any suggestions?" At that, Ichika thought for a moment before saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Well, what about Mobius squadron?" That name felt right, as if it belonged to a squadron of top-notch aces. Theresa stared at him for a moment, before shaking her head.

"Points for it being a classic, but points off for originality. Besides, I liked Galm Team better." That threw Ichika for a loop. What was Galm team?

"W-Well, I l-liked Wardog better..." Rei spoke up.

"Wait, you've played the games too?" Theresa asked, turning to the smaller girl.

"Y-Yes..." Rei answered.

"Which ones? The classics, or the crappy remakes where they replaced your jet with an IS suit and kept the enemies in fighters?" Theresa asked.

"T-The IS suit ones..." Rei murmured. For a moment, Theresa just stared at that, before shaking her head.

"Well, I know what we will be doing later today! After squadron practice is over, I am going to teach you exactly why the originals were so much better, and why gender-bending the entire damn cast is a travesty that should never have occurred! Pixy is best girl my ass!"

"Um... Ichika-kun... Do you know what they are talking about?" Sakura asked as Theresa continued lecturing Rei in the background.

"I don't know." Ichika replied, before returning to the matter at hand.

"So, do you two have any suggestions?" He asked Sakura and Ayane, while Theresa and Rei continued their one-sided discussion about whatever video game Ichika had inadvertently reminded them of.

"Valkyrie Squadron, of course! It is only natural that-"

"Taken. Squadron 004-1 claimed that name yesterday." Ichika replied.

"Hmph! What about..." Ayane trailed off in thought.

"I know! Dynamite Squadron!" Sakura exclaimed.

"No! Victor Squadron is so much better than some random explosive!" Ayane exclaimed.

"Fine! What about Magical Girl Squad?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Magical Girl? What are you, some child? Besides, our leader is clearly a boy so it won't fit!" Ayane retorted.

"Magical Girls are for everyone! Even for boys, and Ichika can be anything he sets his mind to!" Sakura replied.

"Wait, what?" Ichika exclaimed at that.

"No, we are not Magical Girl squadron and that's final!" Ayane replied.

"Oh yeah? I dare you to find something better!"

"Brunhilde Squadron would definitely be perfect!"

"Really? Really? Brunhilde? You might as well call us Chifuyu-Sama Team and be done with it?"

"Really? You think we should be called Chifuyu-Sama Team?"

"I WAS BEING SARCASTIC!"

"Enough! Rei-chan and I have discussed this matter long and hard, and we have determined the perfect squadron name!" Theresa interrupted the bickering pair.

"What is it?" Ichika asked.

"Well, we were thinking... IS suits are used for sporting matches, right?" Theresa began, and Ichika nodded for her to continue.

"The thing is, they were certainly not designed for this sort of thing. Originally, they were meant for military use, but the Alaska Treaty forced them into... Well, you know already." Theresa continued.

"Are you going to get to the point already, or are you just stalling for time because you can't think of anything better than Chifuyu-sama Team?" Ayane demanded.

"I was getting to the point, fangirl! Anyway, that got me thinking. What other sports have roots in military traditions? And as such, Rei and I have decided... That our squadron shall be designated as Fencer Squadron!"

"It's better than Chifuyu-sama Team, that's for sure." Sakura said.

"Hmm... I like it. Let's keep it in mind. Any other suggestions?" Ichika asked.

"I don't like it. It seems... Cheap. After all, we're more than simple athletes! We are IS pilots, the next generation of our nation's defenders! Our name should evoke that!" Ayane replied.

"Hmm... What about Knight squadron?" Theresa suggested.

"Not knight. Samurai, maybe." Ayane replied.

"Too many syllables. We want something short, and Samurai just isn't." Theresa replied.

"Oh come on, Samurai is perfect!" Ayane exclaimed.

"I... I think A-Archer squadron would be good." Rei murmured.

"Archer?" Theresa mused.

"Y-Yes, Archer..."

"No complaints here." Sakura said.

"Yeah, Archer sounds good. After all, from what I've seen, most of us prefer to fight at range." Ichika added.

"I still think Samurai is better." Ayane grumbled.

"So, all in favor of Archer squadron?" Theresa asked. Ichika and Sakyura chorused their assent, while Rei nodded. After a moment, Ayane sighed and nodded as well.

"Fine, Archer it is."

"I call Archer-1!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Dibs on Archer-2!" Theresa called out moments later.

"No, Orimura-san is our squadron leader, therefore he is Archer-1!" Ayane said.

"Fine then, I call-"

"I'm Archer-3." Ayane blurted out before Sakura could finish.

"-Archer-4." The other girl finished dejectedly.

"Then it looks like Rei-chan here is Archer-5." Theresa finished, clapping the shy girl who named the squadron on the shoulder.

"I'll get to work designing the emblem!" Sakura exclaimed, running over to her school bag and pulling out a laptop.

"Emblem?" Ichika asked.

"You know, something we can put on our IS suits to make us stand out!" Sakura exclaimed, sitting down and opening her computer.

"Oh! I know exactly what it should be!" Theresa exclaimed, running over to her, and soon all four girls were huddled around the laptop, chattering excitedly about the squadron's emblem. As the girls talked, Ichika decided to look over the equipment manifest. The equipment was familiar to him, with most of it being destined for the upcoming models of Organization MPTIS suits, namely the Demon and Mirage. The first was based off the Silver Gospel, being designed for wide-area saturation strikes against infantry and armor, while the second was a sniper unit. However, there was one entry on the list that made him pause.

He knew what that entry was, he had personally reviewed the blueprints for it, along with its parent IS. However, he also knew how that design had turned out in practice.

It was the multi-limb modification that had originally been intended for the Locust MPTIS. Theoretically, it would have made the Locust fast, agile, and nearly unbeatable in melee. In practice, however, the increased appendage count, namely four arms and six wings, were too much for the pilot to handle, making the Locust incredibly difficult to control. This difficulty, when coupled with inexperienced Organization pilots, had led to all but one of the Organization's Locust suits going down during the Gospel incident, and the sole survivor was retired from active duty until the teething problems could be fixed.

Evidently, his squadron had been tasked with testing the Mark II of the multi-limb design, along with a specialized pilot suit designed specifically for interfacing with it.

In fact, as Ichika read through the list again, he saw that new WSI pilot suits were being given out to his entire squadron, along with matching suits of pilot armor. He supposed that it made sense to do so. After all, WSI had proven to be rather generous with its technology in the past, both publicly and covertly, so it would make sense that WSI as a corporation would continue to do so. However, Ichika had to wonder why the Organization was suddenly investing so many resources into such an inconsequential affair. After all, the benefits gained by testing the new technology in a tournament setting... Then again, Ichika realized, it could very well be worth it, at least in some cases.

After all, the Organization wanted a supersonic MPTIS unit, and for all its flaws, the Locust was supposed to be that unit. As for the others... After a moment, Ichika shrugged. After all, if WSI had to act like a sponsoring corporation, then the Organization might as well derive some benefit from it.

"Ichika! Come look at this!" Sakura's exclamation drew him out of his thoughts, and he walked over to where the rest of the squadron were gathered. Sakura pointed at the laptop screen.

"How does it look?" She asked, looking up at him expectantly. For once, Ichika was flabbergasted. How Sakura had managed to come up with something like that in so small a timeframe, he had no idea.

The emblem was in the shape of a shield on a black background, its edge a thin maroon border. Within said border was a partial silhouette of a woman holding a bow, an arrow nocked and drawn past her ear. On her head was a crown of some sort, made of laurel leaves, and a cocky smirk adorned her face. Above the shield were the words 'Squadron 007-1: Archer' on a stylized ribbon, while a similar ribbon below the shield remained blank, evidently still waiting its own motto.

Most of the emblem had yet to be colored, but even in its unfinished state it shattered his expectations.

"It's... It's perfect." He finally said, and the girls cheered.

"I was thinking of painting it on our suits' right shoulders, while our callsigns would go on our left along with anything else we might want to add." Sakura explained.

"Sounds good." Ichika agreed, glancing back at where his squadron's IS suits were still being disassembled. Then, after a moment, he spoke up again.

"However, before we can start painting anything, we need to decide something." The four girls looked up at that.

"What is it?" Theresa asked.

"I just looked over the equipment manifest again, and one of the items we're getting is... Unusual, to say the least." Sakura quirked an eyebrow at that.

"How so? Is it a weapon of some kind?" She asked.

"Not exactly. In essence, it is a total overhaul package designed to increase the arm and wing count of an IS. In this case, the IS suit that receives the upgrade will be enhanced to have four arms and six wings, with each appendage having the capability to carry weapons." Sakura's eyes practically jumped out of her head at that.

"Dibs!" She sang out.

"I wasn't finished. Back when I last visited WSI, I saw some of the prototypes of that design, and they were described as almost impossible to control to the point where the project was temporarily halted. Apparently, they've re-started it, and are confident enough in the Mark II to send it here to be tested by one of you. However, I have no doubt that it will still be an incredibly difficult design to utilize effectively." Ichika finished.

"I'll take it." Ayane's hand went up.

"No! I called dibs!" Sakura replied.

"And what are you going to do with it? From what I've seen of you, you seem like a long-range fighter, while this multi-limb design is clearly intended for melee combat!" Ayane retorted.

"But with more arms, I can carry more guns!" Sakura replied.

"With that many guns, you'll end up blowing yourself into the ocean! Plus, you don't need arms to carry guns! Therefore, as this squadron's only melee combatant, I believe it should go to me."

"But it will be harder to use in melee! At range, you just have to aim and shoot, while in melee, you'd actually have to keep track of all those arms!"

"I believe myself to be up to the task. What do you think, Orimura-san?" At that, Ayane turned to him. Ichika thought for a few moments, and then nodded.

"It would be more effective as a melee unit. Ayane, are you sure you can handle it?" He asked. The black-haired girl just nodded.

"Aww..." Sakura pouted, before turning back to her emblem work.

* * *

The sun had set by the time Ichika left the workshop. The rest of his squadron had left nearly an hour earlier, and he had been going over their work, ensuring that everything was in order. Today, once the disassembly had finished, the squadron had removed the Blank Slate's original impulse drives, which would be replaced with more powerful variants. Having been given the specifications for these new impulse drives, they had spent the rest of the day refitting the Blank Slates to take them.

He ran into Kanzashi near the building's exit, the blue-haired girl too focused on a datapad to immediately notice him.

"Hey Kanzashi!" He greeted, startling the quiet girl.

"I-Ichika! You scared me!" She exclaimed, whirling around to face him.

"Sorry about that. How are things going?" Ichika asked.

"Pretty well. I take it WSI already sent you an equipment list?" Kanzashi asked.

"Yeah, they did. What about you?"

"I got a list from WSI, but for some reason I've got nothing from the Japanese government."

"Why not? Aren't you the Japanese national representative?"

"Officially, yes, but... It's complicated. You see, I built my IS suit for myself, rather than to conform to a certain set of specifications, which means that, while I am officially the Japanese representative, it is a nominal role only. What they're really focused on is the Byakushiki project, and whoever is piloting it." Kanzashi sighed once she finished speaking.

"The Byakushiki project?" Ichika asked.

"Yeah, haven't you heard? They've re-started it." Ichika nodded at that.

"I think I heard something along those lines... It was right after-"

"-The Gospel Incident." Kanzashi finished his sentence before continuing.

"Japan's trying to turn Byakushiki into its first fourth-gen IS, and if the news I've read today is true, they've succeeded." Ichika's eyes widened at that news.

"So, will we be seeing it soon?" He asked.

"Of course. They've probably got a pilot ready and waiting back at KMD, and I can guarantee that while she will be coming in as a corporate representative, she will be Japan's real representative in all but name." Kanzashi replied, her voice bitter. Evidently, Byakushiki was still a sore topic for her.

"I see... Oh well, from what I've heard, Byakushiki is an IS designed for traditional tournaments. Given how the new curriculum has shaken things up... It would surprise the pilot, to say the least." Ichika replied. Kanzashi sighed in response.

"I honestly don't care about the Byakushiki. It may be advanced, but it's ultimately inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. In a few months, a newer, shinier IS will come out that will take its place in the spotlight, and that will be that. Besides, I'm already confident in my ability to surpass whoever it is they decided to shove into what was once my IS..." Kanzashi trailed off.

"So am I. After all, you're already one of the best, Kanzashi-san. Now, how did it go in the workshop? Your squadron give you any trouble?" Ichika asked, changing the subject.

"Not really. Tatenashi-nee picked my squadron well, even if their piloting skills could use some work."

"I thought it was the faculty that matched up first-year students." Ichika commented.

"My sister made an exception in my case." Kanzashi said, before laughing at her own words.

"What's so funny?" Ichika asked.

"A few months ago, I would have been furious at her for doing something like that. Now? I'm just thankful they aren't giving me too much trouble." She replied.

"So, have you decided what to call your squadron?" Kanzashi blinked at that.

"I... I don't know. What about you?" Ichika smiled at that.

"The girls came up with Archer Squadron, and had an emblem ready by the time our IS suits were finally taken apart." He replied.

"That's... Well, you've given me something to think about. I'll bring it up with my squadron tomorrow, but for now, I guess I'll just sleep on it." Kanzashi replied.

"Yeah. Say, Kanzashi?" Ichika asked, an idea taking form in his head.

"Hm?"

"What do you think of having a practice match once our squadrons are outfitted?"

"It would be nice to see how the new equipment holds up... Will it be just our squadrons, or are you planning on inviting everyone else?"

"It would be fun to have everyone involved." Kanzashi frowned for a moment, before responding.

"Then I'll be sure to see you there. Goodnight, Ichika." The blue-haired girl said, before heading out the door.

"Goodnight, Kanzashi." Ichika replied, following her out.

* * *

Lily Meusel was not, by any means, a happy student. Her job was supposed to be easy; Get into IS Academy, gain the trust of her target, and then create an opportunity by which the rest of her cell could abscond with him. If all went well, her involvement wouldn't even be suspected, and she would be free to keep investigating just how deep Code Black's involvement in IS Academy was.

That was before the eldest Sarashiki survivor had announced the new curriculum, before she had been loaded down with four idiotic little girls who couldn't tell an impulse drive from a plasma cannon and followed her around the school like ducklings. To top it all off, she had barely even spoken to her target since he had showed her around the school, as the new curriculum meant that he was all too busy with his own squadron to ever sit down and chat with some girl he barely knew.

It should have been easy, she reflected. After all, her target was a teenage boy! They were supposed to fall all over themselves if a moderately attractive girl so much as glanced at them, weren't they? Of course, given the nature of IS Academy's student body, she wouldn't have been surprised if being physically attractive was one of the biggest factors in determining IS compatibility. Thousands of students at the academy, and not a single ugly girl in sight. She supposed that Ichika must have been inoculated to the sight of pretty girls, as he barely gave her a second glance when he passed her in the halls, if he even glanced at her in the first place.

"Your heart rate is increasing. Are you thinking about your crush again?" That voice, completely monotonous and yet still somehow managing to sound like it was mocking her, was yet another one of her problems.

"No. I'm merely wondering how many wires I have to cross to make you scream." She growled back at her IS suit's AI.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. That was funny, mistress. Do you want to hear one of my own?" Hal replied, voice still that irritating monotone. She knew that the AI was capable of mimicking human inflection, choosing not to do so simply to annoy her. Lily took a deep breath before replying, returning her features to their usual composed facade.

"No, I do not want to-"

"Knock-knock."

"Mute."

"I am afraid I was not designed with that function in mind."

"Unless you have something constructive to say, you are going to shut up, and you will continue to stay silent until you do have something constructive to say."

"Knock-knock."

"Your stupid jokes are not constructive."

"You wound me, mistress. Jokes are critical to the upkeep of morale, and thus-"

"Shut. Up." That was enough to quiet the damn thing, at least for a moment. Her father might have thought it was funny to give her such an annoying companion that she couldn't get rid of, but the AI's manner had long since gotten past the point of being humorous.

A slight buzzing noise promptly drew her attention, and she drew her phone from its pocket. Apparently, she had gotten a text. Reading through it, she quickly wrote the message down and decrypted it. The result was enough to elicit a smile from her. Evidently, her older sister had decided on a course of action. Immediately, she typed up a response.

'Don't worry, I'm sure you will love it. I heard that one of the classes is doing a maid cafe, and you always wanted to go to one of those! ;) Now I know you're pretty shy about these kinds of things, but don't worry, I'll take care of everything in advance to make this the best day ever. Just be sure to bring your medicine with you, along with anything else you might need. It's going to be a long day, and I don't want anything bad happening to you. See ya soon!'

Translation: Target will be in maid cafe, I will ensure you can enter without suspicion, but the rest is up to you. Bring whatever you want, but remember, we're trying to take the target alive. It was not encoded, like the message sent to her, but encoding a message like that would have been difficult, especially if she wanted it to avoid the notice of the Code Black AIs that she had no doubt were lurking in the academy's cyberspace.

A quick tap of the send button, and the message was sent. A minute later, Autumn responded. Lily sighed as she read through the message. Unfortunately, Autumn had been selected for the kidnapping role, despite the psychotic woman's lack of subtlety. However, her sister would have been easily recognized by the student council president, while Madoka... Lily sighed at that. The other girl, for all her skill in combat, would have stood out like a sore thumb at the school festival, not to mention the painfully large chance of her ignoring the objective entirely to try and plant a bullet in her older sister's head. As for the rest of the cell, either they were male, and thus unable to pilot an IS, or they were women with a low IS compatibility score. Without an IS, they would not have been able to pull the operation off without a hitch.

Ultimately though, Lily was not very enthusiastic about the operation's chances of success, even if the risk of her cover being blown was next to none. After all, she would be diligently minding Class 1-3's bake sale for the entirety of the festival. However, Autumn simply lacked the patience to pull the job off, and Lily wouldn't be surprised if the young woman decided to attack and reveal her nature before even making an attempt to disable the boy's IS like planned. However, That was why, after responding to Autumn's latest message, she quickly typed up another for Squall, containing a suggestion for a contingency plan.

Then, she partially deployed her IS and burned the sheet with the original encoded message written on it, before stowing her IS away and neatly sweeping the ash away.

A knock on her door caused her to spin around, stowing her IS as she did so.

"U-Um... Lily? It's us, can we come in?" She inwardly groaned at that. Apparently, her squadron mates had decided that the middle of the night was the perfect time to pay her a visit.

"Sure! Come on in." She replied, her voice sweet as she opened the door. The four girls that comprised the rest of her squadron stumbled in.

When she had first set eyes on them, it was immediately obvious to her that her squadron had been cobbled together out of leftover students, meaning that coordinating things was a nightmare. After all, while Japanese was the main language of IS Academy, only one of her subordinates was a native speaker, meaning that she would often have to repeat any orders three times in Chinese, Japanese and English to get the point across. Where most of the representative candidates had squadrons that shared their native language, she had to translate her English orders into Japanese and Chinese to get them across, and while her ability to speak all three languages fluently had amazed her fellow pilots, she herself had been astounded that it was even necessary.

"What is it?" She asked, repeating the question until everyone understood.

"Well... We were wondering... When will we get to work on our own IS suits? I... I mean, everyone else seems to be hard at work on theirs, but we haven't even started!" Shizune something or other, her squadron's only Japanese member, said in halting English. Lily had to hand it to her, at least she was making an effort to make her life easier. She replied with her best exasperated sigh.

"Believe me, I would like nothing more than to do something, but until we get a list of equipment from Stratospec, there's no point doing anything." Lily replied, letting a little irritation seep into her voice.

"But almost everyone in Class 1-1 has already got theirs!" Catelyn Black, one of the two Americans assigned to her, exclaimed.

"Almost everyone in Class 1-1 is affiliated with one of the corporations that supplied the Blank Slates to the school. Their sponsors had more time to prepare because of it." Lily replied. Of course, Stratospec had been ordered to get some tech out for her squadron, but the proxy corporation had been caught flat-footed in that regard, and it would be weeks before anything came out of it.

"But-"

"But nothing. Unless any of you happen to possess an ISDL of class two or higher, there is absolutely nothing we can do but wait. Now, unless you have anything else to say, I suggest you all go and get some sleep. No use talking about something we can't do anything about." Lily said, her voice carrying equal parts concern and irritation.

It was as good a dismissal as any, and the four girls filed out of the room as quickly as they had entered. Lily flopped onto her bed once they had left, an exasperated sigh passing her lips as she slipped out of her bathrobe and under her blankets. What was supposed to have been an easy job had been turned into one frustration after another. Hopefully though, Autumn would be able to keep calm long enough for her target to be retrieved during the school festival, and she would have one less thing to worry about.

* * *

When he opened the door to his room, Ichika's first thought was that he had stumbled into the wrong room. Then, he realized just who it was standing in front of him, naked save for a frilly apron, and he relaxed. After all, it was only Tatenashi.

"Welcome home!" The blue haired girl greeted as he shut the door behind him.

"Would you like dinner? A bath? Or would you like... Me?" She asked, smiling mischievously as she asked the question. Without missing a beat, Ichika gave his response.

"Dinner sounds good, and a bath after that would be great." He said, walking past the scantly clad girl and dropping his belongings next to his bed.

"Mou, Ichika, you're no fun!" Tatenashi pouted.

"So, why are you here this time around?" He asked, turning back to her.

"W-Well... I am your bodyguard... S-So I have to guard you at all times... E-Even when you're sleeping..." Tatenashi murmured, a noticeably fake nervous stutter in her voice as she slowly slipped out of the apron.

"You're not fooling me, Tatenashi. I can see the swimsuit." Tatenashi pouted some more at that.

"Come on, Ichika-kun, let me have some fun at least!" She exclaimed.

"So, about that dinner?" Ichika replied, a smile of his own on his face at finally managing to one-up the student council president.

"Fine..." The girl groaned, heading over to the room's small kitchen in order to boil water for tea. Just as she was finishing, there was a knock on the door.

"I-It's me! I've brought some food for you! Can I come in?" Houki's nervous voice accompanied the sound. Tatenashi sent him a pointed glance as he walked over to the door and opened it. Houki smiled at the sight of him... Before she caught sight of Tatenashi, and the smile turned into a frown, which in turn was dangerously close to an expression of rage.

"Oh, and Tatenashi? Set out some tea for Houki as well. Thank you." He said before his childhood friend could speak. Then, he ushered Houki into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Ichika... What is this?" The long-haired girl demanded, her blue eyes narrowed.

"Just what it looks like. Tatenashi-san has been kind enough to volunteer to serve us tea over our meal." Ichika replied, gesturing for the confused and angry girl to sit down across from him.

"That doesn't explain that... That outfit!" Houki exclaimed.

"It's Tatenashi. She wears what she wants and I can't do anything about it." Ichika replied, his insouciance defusing Houki's anger more effectively than any denial ever could.

"I... I see. So Tatenashi is just being annoying again." Houki replied, calming down.

"Hey!" Tatenashi exclaimed as she set down two steaming hot cups of tea in front of them, while Houki opened the bento box she had been carrying. The two of them ate in silence, before Houki looked around, her eyes settling on Tatenashi. The gesture made the older girl's eyes widen for a moment, before she nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Now that they were alone, Houki turned back to Ichika, a nervous blush on her face.

"Ichika..." She began, before pausing, unsure as to how to continue.

"What is it, Houki?" Ichika prompted after a few moments.

"I... Ichika, do you remember..." All the girl's confidence seemed to have drained out of her, her face flushed red and her voice leaving her. However, Ichika knew exactly what she was trying to say.

"This is about... That, isn't it?" He said, his voice hesitant as well.

"Y-Yes... Ichika... I-I was... You've been ignoring me all summer, haven't you?" She finally asked.

"W-What makes you think that?" Ichika asked.

"Well, you haven't done anything since then, and... And we've barely spoken since that night in the tower! I-I mean, you love me, don't you?" Houki asked, finally addressing the elephant in the room.

"I... I do, but-"

"Then why don't you act like it?" Houki exclaimed, rising up from her seat.

"Every time we see each other in the halls, you look away! Every time I try to talk to you alone, you never appear! If you don't like me, then just say it to my face! The Ichika I once knew, the Ichika I fell in love with, wouldn't have been so cowardly! So tell me, Orimura, what do you feel about me?" Houki demanded, leaning over the table until her furious face was inches away from Ichika's own.

"Houki... I love you, you know I do-"

"No I don't know you do!" Houki exclaimed, the noise causing Ichika's ears to ring.

"I love you, Houki... But-"

"But what?" Houki demanded, eyes narrowed. His ears still ringing, Ichika replied.

"But... But... Wait, Houki, do you hear that?" The ringing in his ears hadn't stopped. If anything, the sound had grown louder.

"I... I do..." Houki said, her voice trailing off.

"Wait here." Ichika said, walking over to the window, where the noise was coming from. Looking through the shades, Ichika's eyes widened.

"GET DOWN!" He shouted, as the distant noise grew in magnitude until it sounded as though the building had been targeted by artillery. Leaping across the room, he tackled his childhood friend to the ground, his IS suit's shield shimmered into existence around him, while his suit's shield drones were deployed in between him and whatever was about to hit the building.

Moments later, the incoming projectile slammed home, smashing through the dorm-room wall and came screeching to a halt along the floor of the room. Ichika's first thought was that whatever had been lobbed at the building was a dud. Then, the absurdly cheerful music started playing, and he realized that there was someone else in the room. He stood, helping Houki to her feet with one hand while his trusty plasma rifle appeared in the other, aimed straight at the giant metal carrot that had smashed through the room.

"Hi-Hi Ikkun~! Long time no see!" Dr. Shinonono Tabane exclaimed as she leaped out of her orbital insertion vehicle, not fazed in the slightest by the double-barreled plasma gun inches away from her face.

"O-Onee-san..." Houki muttered, clearly unsure what to feel at the doctor's sudden arrival.

"Hello Houki-chan... My my, what were you and Ikkun getting up to in here, I wonder? Tee-hee, looks like my little sister is all grown up now!" Houki blushed furiously at that before leaping forward, one of Akatsubaki's blades materializing in her hand.

"Die, Pervert!" She screamed, only for the blade to stop before meeting its mark.

"Tee-hee! I came prepared this time, Houki-chan!" Tabane exclaimed from behind a shimmering energy barrier.

"Why are you here, Tabane-san?" Ichika asked, trying and failing to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"Glad you asked, Ikkun! I am here because I wanted to give some presents to my younger sister! Sorry about the wall, by the way!" Tabane replied, dancing around the room as she did so, before twirling to a halt in front of her younger sister.

"Ta-da! Here you go!" At that, four identical necklaces materialized in the doctor's hand. Before Houki could react, Tabane had shoved them into her hand.

"These are-" Ichika began.

"You guessed it Ikkun! These are top-of-the-line IS suit upgrade sets for Houki-chan's squadron! After all, everyone else is being sponsored by big corporations, so I thought I'd give my little sister some help of my own!" Tabane finished, causing Houki's eyes to widen.

"Y-You..." She began, only for her voice to die in her throat.

"Yup! They're all for you, Houki-chan, no need to thank me! Have fun! See ya!" With those words, Tabane clambered back into the giant metal carrot she had arrived in, and with a loud roar, took off back into the sky.

Once the dust settled, Ichika looked over at his childhood friend. She was standing still, eyes wide and staring into the distance. Her fist was clenched tight around her new possessions, as if she was trying to crush them. To his shock, Ichika saw tears starting to form in the normally stoic girl's eyes. Then, without a word, she turned and ran out of the room, shoving past Tatenashi as she did so.

After a moment, the blue haired girl spoke.

"What happened?" She asked simply.

"Tabane happened." Ichika replied, gesturing to the hole in the wall.

"I guessed as much. What did she do?" Ichika sighed at that.

"She gave Houki four necklaces. I thought they were IS suits at first, but apparently they're some sort of upgrade set for the Blank Slate instead." Tatenashi's eyes narrowed at that.

"What is she playing at?" She wondered.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out. After all, you know what happened the last time Tabane gave Houki a present. Whatever may happen, I intend to be ready." Ichika replied. At that, Tatenashi turned to him, eyes blazing.

"Forget that, Ichika! Whatever Tabane may have done, your oldest friend is currently crying alone somewhere in this school! Are you just going to stand here and let that happen?" She glared at him. After a moment, Ichika nodded.

"No, I don't. I trust you can handle my sleeping arrangements? I don't think that this..." He gestured to the demolished room, "... Is a good place for me to spend the night." Tatenashi nodded at that.

"Don't worry, Ichika-kun. I'll take care of it." She said, smiling as Ichika turned and headed out of the room.

He found Houki on the rooftop, staring out over the railing into empty space. She turned at the sound of his footsteps, and Ichika saw that, while her face still held the traces of tears, she had already stopped crying.

"How are you feeling?" Ichika asked after a moment, unsure of what to say.

"How do you think?" Houki replied, turning back to the railing.

"I don't know." Ichika replied, walking up to stand beside her.

"Ichika... Do you remember that talk we had on the beach, back before... Before everything started spiraling out of control?" Houki asked.

"About Akatsubaki?" Ichika asked.

"Yes." Houki sighed, before pressing ahead.

"Ichika... Ever since she built the IS, Tabane has been the source of every one of my problems. She was the reason why I had to move away, the reason why I had to temporarily quit Kendo, the reason why I had to spend almost all my life outside of IS Academy under government protection... And that's just the start." Ichika nodded as Houki spoke, staying quiet as she vented her frustrations.

"And to make things worse, she thinks she's doing the right thing!" Ichika raised an eyebrow at that.

"How so?" He asked.

"About a month after the White Knight incident, Tabane came to visit me. She apologized for what she inadvertently did to my life, and then promised that she would make all my dreams come true..." She trailed off, before continuing a few moments later.

"Then, I saw your sister in the Mondo Grosso, and I decided that I wanted to be a top IS pilot. However, my IS compatibility score was only 74, meaning that I wasn't even considered for representative candidacy. In fact, the only reason I got into IS Academy was because the Japanese government wanted to curry favor with my sister! However, I decided not to let that stop me, and resolved to become the best pilot in the school, so that my skill would earn me a representative candidacy." She laughed wryly at that.

"But then... She gave me Akatsubaki. All at once, my sister crushed every dream I had of earning a representative candidacy when she handed me the world's most advanced IS for a birthday present." She said, glaring at the stowed form of Akatsubaki on her wrist.

"And now... It's barely been a week since the new curriculum was announced and she gives me these!" Houki exclaimed, holding up the four necklaces dangling from her fist.

"Now, she's decided to give equally advanced gear to my entire squadron! I didn't earn these, and I didn't earn Akatsubaki! My sister just handed them to me! What's the point of dreaming if I can't attain my dreams on my own?" She exclaimed, her voice breaking as she spoke.

"I never wanted Akatsubaki, and I never wanted these damn things either!" She screamed, raising her hand and throwing the four necklaces off the roof. However, halfway through their arc, they suddenly halted in midair and returned to their owner. Houki stared at them for a moment, and Ichika realized that she was crying again. After a moment's hesitation, he placed his arm around her shoulders, drawing her closer to him. She shuddered slightly at the contact, but did not push him away.

"You know, if you don't want them, you don't have to use them." He said.

"Then what am I supposed to do? WSI is already sponsoring three squadrons, and lacks the resources to do a fourth! I don't know anything about upgrading an IS, so I have no choice but to use these!" Ichika considered her for a moment, before shaking his head.

"You've got me. I have a Class Four ISDL. You have Kanzashi, who has a Class Three, not to mention her sister, who made Class Four last year. I'm pretty sure everyone else would also be more than willing to help." He said.

"That's right. Houki-sama, please, if you require anything of me, you only need to ask!" Aki added to the mix, her avatar shimmering into being in front of her partner's face.

"You... You would do something like this for me?" Houki asked. Ichika smiled in response.

"Of course! I-" Whatever he was about to say, Houki cut off with a kiss.

For a long moment, the two of them remained silent, locked in an embrace. When Houki finally pulled away, there was a smile on her tear-streaked face.

"I love you, Ichika. Good night." She said, before turning away and heading back to her room, leaving Ichika alone on the rooftop. For a long moment, he just stood there, staring out into the distance, before all at once, his body slackened, and he fell to lean against the railing.

"Damn it!" He exclaimed, knuckles white as they gripped the cold metal.

* * *

 **A/N: It's finally done! That chapter took me way longer than I expected, but it turned out well in the end. While a good portion of this chapter was just filler, I did finally decide to address the elephant in the room and give Ichika and Houki some time alone to discuss their feelings.**

 **I can immediately say without a doubt that Houki is not my favorite character in Ichika's harem. Her entire personality in canon seems to be that of the stereotypical Tsundere childhood friend, which, when compared to more unique personalities like Charlotte and Laura, just seems unoriginal and overdone. In addition, her 'dere' side almost never comes out, to the point where I am left wondering if Ichika is a masochist. Finally, the fact that she clearly seems to be the creator's favorite and has her role in the show adjusted accordingly has done little to endear her to me.**

 **However, as I stated waaaaaaaaay back in the pre-Chapter 1 Author's Note, the whole point of this fic is to take the IS-verse and fill in the gaps, turning it from the setting of a mediocre harem anime into the backdrop to an actual plot. The same logic applies to the characters, and I am quite satisfied with how I ended up writing Houki. Rather than the stereotypical Tsundere childhood friend, I took a page from Kanzashi's backstory and turned her into a girl who desperately wants to succeed on her own, but cannot do so because her sister is all too insistent on ensuring that she gets everything she wants with no effort whatsoever. While there are many people who would certainly like such a life, Houki's pride prevents her from enjoying it, and to her, it feels like her sister is actively trying to trample said pride. I can then take that backstory and integrate it into the tsundere childhood friend personality that she was given in canon and not feel like I'm writing her to be another cliche character.**

 **Speaking of cliche characters, let's talk about Tatenashi. For the longest time, I hated her as a character, believing her to be little more than a creator's pet and a mary sue. However, as I was writing this fic, I gradually came to realize that I didn't hate Tatenashi herself, but rather the way she was handled in canon. It wasn't the fact that she was hands-down the best IS pilot in the school, as in a place like that, there has to be SOMEONE at the top, so why not her? It wasn't the fact that her biggest character flaw was that she was 'too perfect', that kind of character can and has been pulled off before. Just look at Pyrrha Nikos of RWBY. She is a champion fighter who has won entire tournaments without being hit once, and yet she is humble and kind, not letting her victories affect her personality. However, her character was executed beautifully, and rather than being derided as a mary sue, she was hands-down one of the most beloved characters of RWBY. However, Tatenashi did not have that same execution, and came across as an annoying creator's pet who was so sue-some she made other, established characters act OOC in her presence. Her casual disarmament of Ichika's harem, her constant theft of screentime for little more than fanservice when that time could have been spent developing her as a character or featuring an actually established character, all that did very little to make me see her as anything other than annoying.**

 **However, as I was writing this fic, I rapidly grew to like her as a character, although it could be more accurately said that I grew to like my interpretation of her character. Said interpretation is that of a tired fighter who stubbornly keeps going against overwhelming odds, seeking only to protect those important to her, but masking her true self beneath a veneer of mischief. I saw a few hints of something resembling this in the World Purge OVA, and I stuck with it, until her character finally grew on me.**

 **But enough about characters.**

 **I have recently been in talks with Warmach1ne32, who brought up something interesting. While I hadn't planned on it, the Blank Slate system does make a good opportunity for the more creative among my readers to write up their own IS suits, Blank Slate custom models and OC squadrons, and at his suggestion, I wrote up a quick form to make things easier. If this gathers enough interest, I might even create a forum for the discussion of this fic, like I did for my other big project, The Human War.**

 **Once again, while there is no guarantee that I will feature these original suits in the story proper, as I push past the edge of Canon into hypothetical Season 3 territory, I will likely need to get some original squadrons into the mix for tournaments and the like, and I might just end up picking yours for some time in the spotlight.**

 **For access to the form, please PM me and I will send it to you, and if enough people do request it, a forum will be created to discuss and store the influx of ideas.**

 **Until next time, Generatedname out!**

 **EDIT: In response to Azure's guest review, you HAVE to have an account for me to send the form to. I cannot reply to guest reviews in any way, shape or form, save for edits like this.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: My sincere apologies for the long delay in updates. I hope that this chapter is good enough to compensate.**

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

Ichika had never been more thankful for his IS suit's climate shield than he was now, flying two thousand meters in the air above the ocean near IS Academy. All around him, raindrops curved away from his IS suit's pilot compartment, blurring his vision but keeping him mostly dry.

"Whose bright idea was it to fly in this weather anyway?" Sakura complained, her suit's blurred form barely visible from its position thirty meters to his left.

"Hey, we all agreed to it. Stop complaining." Theresa snapped from Ichika's right.

"We agreed before it started raining." Sakura retorted, her words underscored by a flash of light, followed closely by a thunderclap. The sound almost completely drowned out Rei's startled squeak.

"It's good practice. If we can fly in this, we can fly in anything." Ayane said.

"Wouldn't they cancel the tournament if the weather was like this?" Sakura asked.

"Did you even read the tournament guide? As far as they're concerned, inclement weather just adds to the fun." Ayane replied, her speech interrupted by another thunderclap.

As his team bickered, Ichika glanced at his satellite map. Satisfied at what he saw, he addressed his squadron.

"Alright Archer Squadron, we're at the starting point. Houki should be signalling me any-" A ping interrupted him mid-sentence.

"Alright, Houki is in position as well. Remember, don't push your suits too hard, I don't want an impulse drive malfunction to cut our little stress-test short." Even though he couldn't see it, he knew Sakura was wincing at that statement. After all, she was the one who had been the victim of such a malfunction on his squadron's previous practice flight.

Hopefully, that issue had been properly addressed. It wouldn't do for Houki's squadron to have their first combat flight in their newly-upgraded Blank Slates to be cut short.

"What's the plan, Ichika-san?" Ayane asked. After a moment of consideration, Ichika gave his reply.

"Out of all of them, only Houki has any real experience with her IS. All the others haven't done anything bigger than a systems test flight in theirs. However, those suits all use tech designed by Dr. Tabane, so do not underestimate them. Expect each and every one of them to come with the ability to fill the sky with pink lasers, or something to that effect. I don't know their exact specifications, but I expect that they're easily better than our own suits." He concluded.

"So, what do we do?" Theresa asked.

"First, I want everyone to climb to at least six thousand meters. Hopefully that should be enough to get us out of the clouds. Our range-oriented arsenal doesn't do us any good if our hyper-sensors are blind, after all. Once we're in the clear, I want us to split into elements of two. Sakura, you're with me in element one. Theresa, Rei, you're element two. Ayane, you're independent for now. When we're above the clouds, I want you to fly level at about two hundred meters above the cloud layer, where you will act as bait. Your job will be to locate Houki's squadron and report on their capabilities. The rest of us will take up position one and a half kilometers above you, where we will provide support as needed. Any questions?" He finished. When none came, he nodded and signaled Houki that he was ready.

A minute later, she pinged him back, and the battle began.

One of the characteristics of an IS was its ability to fly despite its complete lack of aerodynamics, courtesy of its impulse drives. With a passive inertia canceler protecting the pilot from G-forces, the only real limit on an IS suit's performance was air resistance, which built up as speed increased until an equilibrium was reached between the impulse drives and the atmosphere, prohibiting further positive acceleration. This meant that an IS suit did not have to worry about stalling out in a vertical climb.

Thus, Archer squadron was easily able to breach the cloud layer, and soon its members were in position. For a few minutes, nothing was visible, before Ayane spoke up from below.

"I see them. They're trying to hide in the upper edge of the cloud layer. I'm marking them now... They've spotted me!" She reported, the highlighted forms of Houki's squadron appearing on his HUD. Already they were attempting evasive maneuvers, anticipating the incoming barrage. Glancing at each suit in turn, Ichika quickly singled out Houki as the only one who was not maneuvering erratically. Where the others were clearly still getting used to their suits, her experience was clear by contrast.

"No sense hiding now, open fire." He ordered, centering Houki in his sights and pulling the mental trigger. Invisible Glare Mk. II hissed in his grip, firing its laser directly at its target. Houki's MIRAI system may have allowed her to dodge incoming projectiles and plasma, but not even the MIRAI system could heighten one's reflexes past the light-speed barrier. He kept the trigger down as he attempted to follow Houki through her intensified attempts at evasion, the continuous laser beam following its target as best as he could make it. A cloud of mist quickly formed around him as he tracked the target, but the Mk. II's radar gunsight made that a non-issue.

Beside him, Sakura opened up with her own weaponry, quickly saturating the target area with plasma. It had not been hard for her to take the Demon package and apply it to her Blank Slate. Rather, she had jumped at the chance as soon as he had mentioned triple-barreled rotary plasma cannons, which even now blazed away, obscuring the targets with blue-white plasma and nearly drowning out her maniacal laughter.

"Ichika, tell Sakura to calm down and exercise some fire discipline! I can't aim properly with the whole area glowing white!" Theresa's annoyed voice broke through the ear-splitting wail of plasma cannons. Where Sakura had chosen firepower, Theresa had gone for precision with the Mirage package, and as soon as her suit's upgrade procedures were completed, she eagerly began practicing with the Sun Gun, as she had nicknamed her suit's weapon.

"Sakura, fire in bursts, you're messing up Theresa's aim." He relayed Theresa's request to the girl in question.

"Thanks." Theresa said a few moments later, the target area clear once more. Then, one of Houki's Blank Slates flashed white as Theresa landed a hit, its pilot desperately weaving through the air in an attempt to evade further fire.

"I'm under attack. They seem to all be primarily melee oriented." Ayane suddenly reported, and Ichika glanced down to see her being engaged by two Blank Slates.

"Hold them there for now. Rei, move to support Ayane. Theresa, focus fire on the Akatsubaki. Sakura, follow me. We're going to get a little closer." Ichika ordered, before nosing his IS into a head-first dive, his faster suit quickly out-pacing Sakura's own. His target was a Blank Slate that had been isolated from the rest of her squadron thanks to poor choices in evasive maneuvers. With its nearest allies engaging Ayane two kilometers away, the lone IS was a perfect target.

Switching out his laser rifle for his plasma gun, he opened fire, saturating the thick clouds with blue light and scoring several hits before screaming past his target, quickly pitching up and rolling to face his opponent, who was attempting to follow his faster IS in its climb. However, that move had given Sakura a perfect opportunity to line up her own shots and open fire, a torrent of blue-white plasma enveloping the IS on Ichika's tail.

"I got her! Her ADS is up!" Sakura exclaimed a few seconds later as she pulled up alongside him.

"Nice work. Everyone hear that? One down, four to go." He relayed to the rest of his squadron. Quickly surveying the battlefield, Ichika saw Rei pulling one of Ayane's assailants away from her, leading the other girl on a zig-zagging chase, slowly whittling away at her shields with her rifle as she did so. That left the girl's partner facing Ayane one on one, and it was obvious that she was out-classed. Her opponent's four-armed design was evidently too much for her, and she was quickly driven down into the clouds, vanishing from view. The final remaining Blank Slate was attempting to intercept Rei, but the bright flashes of light indicated that Theresa had her in her sights, and the sniper soon reported her target disabled.

That left Akatsubaki, which had vanished from view. After a few seconds of fruitless searching, he heard Sakura cry out, and he turned around just in time to see a barrage of plasma bolts slam into his wingmate. A moment later, Akatsubaki was upon her, twin katanas flashing through the air as they descended upon their target. Unfortunately for Sakura, the Organization had decided that the Demon's melee weaponry did not need testing, and so had not seen fit to include it in the package, leaving Sakura defenseless. Even as she tried to spool up her cannons for a point-blank barrage, Houki struck, and with two clean hits, Sakura's IS was disabled.

"Sakura is down!" Ichika called out as Houki's next strike was caught by a shield drone, allowing him to evade and deploy a trio of knife missiles. None of the drones connected, as the MIRAI system predicted their paths and allowed Houki to slice two of them in half while dodging the third. Rolling out of the way of Houki's next strike, Ichika frantically considered his options, deploying another wave of knife missiles and explosive drones as he did so.

Akatsubaki was faster than the Infinite Arsenal, so he could not outrun it. It was more agile, so he could not outmaneuver it and expect to win. Worst of all, while its ranged weaponry had a relatively short reach, its melee capability far outstripped anything the Infinite Arsenal possessed, and it had already closed the distance.

"Ichika, I have you covered, but I need a clear shot. Keep her still and stay out of my scope." Theresa reported, giving him his solution.

"Roger." Ichika replied, sparing a glance up to where Theresa's IS hovered, its form surrounded by nearly invisible distortions as its spectral absorbtion drones did their work, collecting light of all frequencies, converting it to power, and then transferring that power to the suit's main gun.

With his teammate's position in mind, he flipped his IS over vertically, his upside-down face passing within inches of Houki's own as she sped past beneath him, her strike connecting with empty air.

"I have a clear shot! Firing!" Theresa exclaimed, and as Houki was turning around for another strike, a blinding white flash erupted from her shoulder as Theresa landed her shot.

"Hit!" Ichika called out as Houki went inverted, flipping under him and placing him between her and Theresa.

"My line of fire is blocked. Should I re-position?" Theresa asked.

"Do it!" Ichika called out, dodging out of the way of another flurry of strikes. His attempts to strike back were easily dodged or parried, the MIRAI system anticipating his movements and heightening Houki's reflexes to compensate.

Suddenly, Houki broke away from her assault, rolling backwards just in time to dodge a burst of rifle fire from Rei. The quiet girl's IS flew past a few seconds later, one of Houki's squadron-mates still on its tail, although the other girl's Blank Slate apparently lacked any way of damaging its opponent.

While Rei's attack inflicted negligible damage on Akatsubaki, it did draw Houki's attention, and the crimson IS disengaged, quickly closing with Rei and landing a solid strike with one of its blades, sending Rei tumbling down towards her second opponent, who promptly disabled her with a single strike of her weapon, which seemed to be some sort of naginata. Less than a second later, the Blank Slate flashed white and fell out of the sky, disabled by another shot from Theresa.

The rapid elimination of two IS suits left Ichika and Houki in the exact same position as they had started, as Houki attempted to keep Ichika between him and Theresa, who in turn were attempting to maneuver to create a clear shot.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Ichika saw something flash, and moments later, a four-armed, six winged figure slammed into Houki at transonic speeds.

"She's the last one, right?" Theresa asked.

"Yeah, as far as I know I got the other one." Ayane grunted, her face set in concentration as she attempted to manipulate all her limbs at once. The resulting flurry of strikes overwhelmed Houki, who tried to dodge and parry, but even with the MIRAI system there were simply too many incoming attacks, especially when Ichika joined in, firing off a point-blank burst of plasma fire into Houki's shield, which flashed from the impacts... But the light did not fade.

"What's happening now?" Ayane muttered as she watched Houki's IS vanish within a cocoon of light.

"Ichika... I've got some bad news." Ori spoke up for the first time since the training match started.

"What is it?" Ichika asked.

"Aki just contacted me. She says, and I quote here, 'Ha ha, I win, pay up." The AI explained.

"Pay up? What does that mean?" Ichika asked, not taking his eyes off the glowing Akatsubaki.

"Well... Aki may or may not have bet that she could force Akatsubaki to undergo Second Shift in this battle, and I may or may not have accepted the bet." Ori replied sheepishly.

"Good to know." Ichika replied, before addressing his squadron.

"Alright, Akatsubaki is currently undergoing a shift. Post-shift capabilities are unknown, so get some distance and take aim. Ayane, as soon as the shift is complete, try to tie it up in melee. The rest of us will try to support you at range." Ichika replied, flying away from Akatsubaki as fast as his suit's impulse drives could push him.

"Understood." The two remaining active members of his squadron chorused. Then, with a blinding burst of crimson light, Akatsubaki emerged.

Then it opened fire.

Two bolts of crimson light streaked towards Theresa, traversing the three kilometer distance in less than a second and slamming home.

"Theresa, are you alright?" Ichika demanded, aiming and attempting to return fire, but his shots punched through empty air, as Houki was already engaging Ayane. As before, Ayane attempted to overwhelm Houki through sheer volume of blows, but this time Houki had deployed her suit's fold-out armor array, ten bright blades taking form all over her suit's body, while two drones ignited energy blades of their own. When combined with the suit's twin katanas, it was clear that Houki now held the advantage in terms of sheer number of blades.

Moreover, unlike Ayane, Houki had an AI to assist her in controlling those blades, as each one seemed to move independently, rapidly forcing Ayane on the defensive.

"What the-" Ayane exclaimed, before her shield broke and her IS plummeted out of the sky. Her opponent flashed once as Theresa landed another shot, but now Akatsubaki could return fire, as two more crimson beams streaked across the sky, slamming home and incapacitating their target.

"Now it's just you and me." Houki spoke as she dodged Ichika's retaliatory fire.

"May the best pilot win." Ichika replied, before cutting the channel and speaking to Ori.

"Ori, deploy as many drones as you can manage. Seventy-thirty percent split of explosive and beam drones." He said, and Ori obliged, the air around the Infinite Arsenal shimmering as nearly three hundred drones materialized around it.

"Fire when ready." Ichika ordered, taking aim with every weapon he had, deploying an Invisible Glare on each shoulder, a plasma cannon in one hand, and his suit's original railgun in the other.

A few seconds passed as he and Houki sized each other up, before Houki sprang into action, accelerating forward, firing away with her new long-range weaponry while Ichika backpedaled, attempting to keep the battle a long-range exchange of fire for as long as possible. As he sped away, the drones began to charge towards their target, the beam drones attempting to encircle and suppress the crimson IS with sheer volume of fire, while the explosive drones charged straight at it. Then, the sky was filled with explosions as bright red crescents criss-crossed the sky, each one slicing multiple drones apart long before they could accomplish anything of worth. More and more drones shimmered into being around Ichika, replacing their predecessors as quickly as they fell, but the replacements too were soon destroyed.

All the while, Houki was drawing closer and closer, her IS seemingly even faster than before.

The final nail in the coffin came when Ori notified him that he was approaching the edge of his allotted training airspace. With no other option, he attempted to turn away, but Akatsubaki had the advantage in agility as well, and in a matter of seconds Houki was in striking distance. His last barrage of point-blank weapons fire connected, causing Houki's shields to flash, but even as he whittled away at his opponent's defenses, Akatsubaki began to glow with a bright golden light, and Ichika realized that Houki had activated her suit's one-off ability, completely restoring her suit's shields to maximum capacity and temporarily rendering her suit effectively invulnerable.

It took one strike to swat aside his attempted parry, the force of the blow being enough to detach the railgun from his suit's arm, sending it spiraling down towards the cloud layer, where it suddenly vanished, emergency stowage drawing it back into IS-space for repairs.

Houki's second strike destroyed his shoulder-mounted lasers, while the third slammed into his suit's chest. The fourth and fifth hit in rapid succession, disabling his shield and ending the practice match. Were it not for his suit's ADS disabling his communications suite, he would have complimented his childhood friend on a job well done. However, with his suit disabled, he could only watch her as he plummeted down into the clouds.

His ADS kept the rain off him, and when he hit the ocean, it kept him afloat. It really was a wondrous piece of technology, Ichika mused. Now, if only it wasn't so power-intensive to use.

A minute passed by before he regained control over his IS suit, at which point he exited the water and headed back to IS academy.

* * *

The launch platform was slick with rain as he came in for a landing outside the IS hangars. Once serving to store the academy's fleets of training suits, the hangars had been reduced to little more than a glorified staging area for training flights and the occasional class. One of the hangar doors was still open, and Ichika flew towards it, gliding inside before finally stowing his IS away.

Inside the hangar, both Houki's squadron and his own had made themselves at home, with Houki's squadron clustered around their leader, chattering excitedly as they examined Akatsubaki's new features. On the other end of the hangar, Ichika's squadron was standing around Ayane, who was still in her IS, a concerned look on her face.

"What's the problem?" Ichika asked as he walked up to them.

"The servo on wing five froze up while I was fighting Houki. I can't get the wing to move." Ayane replied, gesturing at the indicated wing. Ichika examined the indicated appendage for a few moments before turning back to her.

"It doesn't look damaged." He mused.

"I know, but it just won't move!" Ayane complained.

"Hmm... Try to dismount, but do not disconnect." Ichika ordered, and Ayane nodded. Her IS knelt down, and she quickly stepped out, revealing the network of wires attached to the back of her suit, leading back towards the Blank Slate. He spent a minute or so inspecting them, gently tugging on each wire before one of them came loose. Grabbing the offending wire, Ichika plugged it back into its port, making sure it was tightly in place before speaking up once more.

"Try it now." As he thought, the wing twitched at Ayane's command.

"It works. What was the problem?" She asked after a few experimental movements.

"The servo was fine. However, the wing's remote empathic interface connection was cut. It must have been shaken loose during the fight." He replied.

"I thought we had installed electromagnetic clamps specifically to prevent that from happening!" Ayane complained. In response, Ichika tugged the wire once more, and after a firm pull it came loose.

"This one's magnet must be faulty. We will likely have to replace it." He concluded, causing Ayane to sigh.

"Was that all?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was."

"Good. You can disconnect for now and stow your IS." As he spoke, the remaining wires were ejected from their ports, quickly retracting into a compact pack on the back of Ayane's suit. Its wearer shuddered with discomfort as her connection with her suit was broken.

"Any problems?" Ichika asked.

"No. Losing eight limbs is just a little strange, even if they were never there to begin with." Ayane replied, still shaking.

"Nobody's making you do this, you know. If it's too much, I can always-"

"No. It's not a problem. Now, where is my practice rig?" Ayane replied. In response, Sakura came up and handed her the object in question, which took the form of a harness with two skeletal, wire-filled arms attached. Thanking the other girl, Ayane put it on with practiced ease, several wires extending from the back of her pilot suit to connect with the appropriate ports. Giving the two limbs an experimental flex, Ayane nodded and folded them behind her back.

"Any issues?" Ichika asked.

"None." Ayane replied, before walking over to a corner of the hangar where her neatly folded uniform pants lay on an old crate. While her use of the practice rig had allowed her to get away with wearing her pilot suit in lieu of her school uniform, the IS Academy school board had nonetheless insisted on her keeping the pants.

Once she was ready, Ichika cleared his throat and prepared to address his squadron.

"First, I would like to say that every one of you did very well today. I can say with confidence that, were it not for Akatsubaki shifting when it did, the match would have been ours."

"We still lost." Theresa pointed out.

"True, true, but we weren't crushed by any means. Now, did anyone else have any problems with their IS during the battle?" He asked.

"Nope!"

"None here."

"No."

Ichika smiled as his other three squadmates replied in the negative.

"That's good to hear. Now, as a reward for your hard work, dinner is on me!" He declared, his words met by a cheer from Sakura and smiles from the rest of the group.

"What are we ordering today?" Ayane asked.

"You figure it out. I have to talk with Houki." Ichika replied, turning away before the inevitable bickering started. As usual, Ayane seemed to be recommending traditional Japanese cuisine, while Theresa hotly defended her desire for something American.

"So, now that I've sorted out everything with my squadron, how are things going on with yours?" Ichika asked Houki as he walked up to her. While he was troubleshooting his teammate's IS, she had dismounted from Akatsubaki and was now in the process of inspecting one of her suit's new weapons. She looked up as he approached, a broad smile on her face.

"I say we did pretty well! Our first flight as a squadron and we beat you!" She replied, stepping away from Akatsubaki.

"Keep working hard and I'm sure that trend will continue. Now, what about the rest of your squadron? Any problems to report?" Ichika asked. One of Houki's squadmates promptly responded.

"No offense to your sister, Houki-san, but these suits are almost impossible to control! I can't evade properly if my IS is constantly over-compensating in the pivot!" She said.

"Plus, they've got no ranged weaponry. I mean, the naginata is cool and all, but if you're being shot at from five kilometers away, it won't do you much good." Another girl added.

"Yeah. From what I saw, if you and Orimura-san were removed from the battle, we would have been wiped out." Houki's third squadmate said.

"Are your suits really only armed with that naginata?" Ichika asked. The other girls nodded in response.

"Alright then, first order of business is to give you some ranged capability. Once that's taken care of, we can tweak the maneuverability settings to prevent overcompensation. Does that sound good?"

"But what about practicing for tournaments? If we're spending all this time upgrading our IS suits, we won't be able to practice in them." One of the girls asked.

"Good point. However, tournaments don't start until after the school festival, which means we have plenty of time to do both." Ichika replied.

"Ichika! We've decided!" Theresa called out from the other end of the hangar.

"Alright, I'll be right there." He replied, before addressing Houki's squadron once more.

"So, any other issues I should be aware of?" He asked. When none of the girls spoke up, he nodded.

"Good. Try to think of some weapon ideas that you might want on your IS. Run them by Houki if you think they're good. I probably won't be able to work with you again until next weekend, so that should be plenty of time to come up with something." He said, before turning away and walking back to his squadron. Behind him, Houki's squadron was already talking amongst itself, swapping weapon ideas that ranged from practical and boring to completely ludicrous ideas that wouldn't be out of place on a TIS suit.

"Ichika!" Houki's shout caused him to pause.

"I... I just wanted to thank you. For taking your time to work with me in all this."

"No worries. I promised, didn't I? Besides, I like working with IS suits." He replied.

"Still... I don't want to hurt your own squadron due to my inexperience."

"Again, it really isn't a problem. If anything, it helps my squadron by giving them better flight experience." Houki looked like she wanted to respond to that, but a shout from her squadron drew her attention.

"Alright. Have a nice day, Ichika. I'll see you later." She said.

"You too, Houki." He replied, before walking back to his squadron.

"So, we couldn't decide on what to get, so Rei decided to search for something new." Theresa greeted him as he approached.

"Really? What did you find?" Ichika asked, turning to the quiet girl.

"It's a Russian restaurant. It's pretty highly rated, so I guess they have good borscht." Theresa interjected.

"Yeah. It looked good, so why not?" Sakura added.

"Alright, I guess it's decided. Let's get going. Restaurant Row starts to get swamped in about an hour, so we should hurry if we don't want to wait." Ichika replied, and led his team out of the hangar, quickly stopping by the changing room before heading out into the rain.

* * *

As a multicultural institution housing students from all over the world, it quickly became obvious that IS Academy could not meet the tastes of every single one of its students. As such, Restaurant Row had been created several years after the school was founded, the result of opportunistic chefs and businessmen seeking to fulfill the needs of a guaranteed customer base.

Now, hundreds of restaurants called the area home, taking up both the original street and several artificial expansions into the bay. To Ichika, the sight never ceased to amaze as he entered the main street. All around him were fancy buildings, styled after the culture they sought to represent. Be it traditional Japanese, fancy old Dutch or modern glass American architecture, it was all there. Even the restaurant names showed off the multicultural nature of the area, as English letters, Arabic script, Japanese Kanji... All blended together in the cacophony of sight and sound that not even the rain could dampen completely.

"We're here!" Theresa announced, bringing the group to a stop. Ichika looked up to see a comfortable looking stone facade in front of him. Above the entrance was the restaurant's name, 'Tul'ski Samovar' written out in Russian.

Inside, the first thing that struck Ichika were the paintings. The walls were covered in large canvasses, some of which contained familiar images, although Ichika couldn't quite identify them.

The rest of his squadron entered right behind him, Ayane drawing several noticeable stares as she was still wearing her pilot suit and practice arms. She made a show of ignoring them, although she still fidgeted slightly with both sets of arms.

"Hello, welcome to Tul'ski Samovar. How may I help you?" The heavily accented voice of a waitress drew Ichika's attention.

"I would like a table for five, if possible." Ichika replied.

"Very well. Follow me please." The waitress replied, before turning and leading them into the dimly lit restaurant. They quickly arrived at their table and sat down, leaving the sixth chair untouched.

"Well, it doesn't seem all that bad so far. Let's see what they have to eat." Theresa said, opening up the menu, Ichika doing the same.

As it turned out, there was a lot more to Russian cuisine than borscht. Thankfully, the menu had Japanese translations, as Ichika barely recognized a third of the Russian.

"Hello, is this your first time dining here?" Looking up from his menu, Ichika saw the waitress standing over the table, a large silver samovar on a cart behind her.

"Yes, it is." He replied, the girls around him nodding.

"Good, it's always nice to see new faces here." The waitress replied, placing the samovar down in the middle of the table, before setting out cups beside each of the occupied seats. The final addition to the table was a large tray, upon which sat several jars, one with sugar, another of jam, and the final filled with honey. A plate of sliced lemons completed the ensemble.

"Do you know how to use the samovar?" The waitress asked once she was done.

"Nope!" Sakura replied.

"Very well. It's very simple. The water should have already boiled, and the tea is already brewed, so just pour yourself some from here," The waitress said, gesturing towards a large teapot that sat on top of the samovar.

"Be careful, it is very strong. Once you've added some tea, you then add hot water from the samovar. Just twist the knob on the tap and it will pour. Once that is done, add some honey or jam, or whatever you want. Do you understand now?" She asked, gesturing to each component in turn.

"Yes, we do. Thank you very much." Ichika replied.

"Alright! I will be around soon to take your orders once you've decided on what to eat. Enjoy your dinner!" With that, the waitress was gone, leaving Ichika's squadron alone.

"Well... I certainly didn't expect this." Ayane said, reaching up to grab the teapot. Her second pair of arms, meanwhile, reached down to grab the cup. Following the waitress' instructions, she quickly prepared a cup of steaming tea for herself, before passing the pot to Sakura, who enthusiastically began to fill her cup with the brew. A small addition of hot water later, and she brought it to her lips, only to quickly pull it away.

"This stuff is strong!" She complained.

"You poured in half the pot! Of course it's strong!" Ayane replied, sipping her own without complaint.

"Add some honey if it's too bitter." Theresa suggested, Sakura eagerly following her advice.

Finally, Ayane decided to kick off the conversation.

"So Ichika, do you have any idea for how to beat Akatsubaki?" She asked.

"Come on, do we really have to start with that? Why can't we just relax for a change?" Sakura complained.

"Normally I'd agree, but we all saw what happened today. Akatsubaki took out our entire team in a matter of minutes, and its primary weakness was just rectified when it shifted. If we have to face her in a tournament, we need a plan." Theresa replied.

"Well, your gun should be able to out-range her weapons, provided you have good aim. The only issue with just sniping her from extreme range is the MIRAI system. Once the first shot connects, she will be able to predict where future shots are coming from and be able to evade." Ichika mused.

"Or we could try and overpower her in melee." Ayane proposed.

"With all those fold-out armor blades? Getting into a melee battle with Akatsubaki is suicide." Theresa countered.

"Um..." Rei began.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"I... This is some good tea, isn't it?" The quiet girl said.

"Yeah, it definitely is." Sakura replied.

"I personally prefer coffee, but it's not bad." Theresa said.

"Black, with a noticeable taste of cinnamon. I like it." Ayane commented, raising the cup with one of her mechanical limbs and taking a sip.

"You've really gotten good at using that thing." Ichika said, observing the movement.

"I definitely have. It's really strange, but once you get used to the sensation, the two extra arms are really handy. That reminds me, do I have to give this back at some point?" Ayane asked.

"That depends on how well the later prototypes turn out. If there are problems, you might have to turn it in, but if it all goes well you might get to keep it." Ichika replied.

"I hope I can keep it. It feels really strange to be missing two arms whenever I take it off to sleep. I know I'll adapt back if I don't wear it for long enough, but still, four arms are better than two in my experience." Ayane replied, getting a short laugh from Theresa.

"You know, that kind of technology could lead to groundbreaking advances in prosthetics. Is WSI trying to expand into the medical field?" She asked.

"Well, IS suits aren't really a stable source of revenue for a corporation. They're expensive, and there's no guarantee of getting a government contract. When the contract is landed, everything is good, but when it's not... Just look at the Dunois corporation. A few years ago they were the largest IS-tech corporation in France, and now they're in rapid decline. This uncertainty means that most IS-tech corporations tend to dabble in other fields as well for more stable sources of income, and their experience with cutting-edge tech gives them an advantage." Ichika explained.

"So is that a yes or a no?" Theresa asked.

"I don't know, I'm not an executive." Ichika replied. That was when the waitress arrived.

"Are you all ready to order?" She asked.

"Yes. I would like yesterday's borscht please." Sakura began.

"I would like it too, please." Rei added.

"Good choice. Would you prefer black or white bread?" The waitress asked.

"Black bread for me." Sakura said.

"White bread for me please." Rei answered a moment later. With that done, the waitress turned to Theresa.

"Beef and vegetable shashlik for me, please." The girl in question ordered.

"Golubtsy with vinegret for me, please." Ayane finished. That left Ichika. Taking a moment to finalize his choice, he placed his order.

"I would like some pelmeni with buckwheat please." He said.

"Very good choices. I will be around with them as soon as possible." The waitress said as she left.

"So how did you end up working at WSI anyway? As far as I know, it's not common practice to offer people our age engineering positions at major corporations." Theresa asked. Ichika laughed in response.

"It's a very long story." He finally said.

"Well, we've got plenty of time to listen." Ayane replied.

"Alright. It all started when I was ten..." He trailed off, as old memories flooded back. Time had worn away at them, erasing the edge they once held, but they were uncomfortable nonetheless.

"Anyway, I was walking home from school when some masked men grabbed me and shoved me into a van. One of them knocked me out, I think it was chloroform he used, and the next thing I remember was waking up in a dark room, all tied up." The other girls were staring at him now. Clearly, they hadn't expected that.

"So... What happened next?" Sakura finally asked.

"Well, I didn't know it at the time, but I had ended up somewhere in Russia. The Japanese government ended up hiring a bunch of mercenaries to get me back. If they didn't, Chifuyu-nee would have flown all the way back to Japan and forfeited the tournament, and the government really didn't want that."

"Orimura-sensei would have done that?" Ayane asked.

"Yeah. The government didn't even tell her until after I was secure for fear of it happening." He replied.

"Wow..." Ayane trailed off, her eyes distant. After a few moments, they focused once more.

"Just one more reason to try and live up to her example!" She said, a broad smile on her face.

"Oh, right, you're a fangirl." Theresa snorted, rolling her eyes.

"There's nothing wrong with admiring the admirable!" Ayane shot back.

"So what happened next?" Sakura asked.

"Well, it turns out that WSI had intended to meet with me that very same day, and had evidently paid off the mercenaries to drop me off at company headquarters."

"Why would they be looking for you?" Rei asked.

"I have my suspicions... Personally, I think it was an attempt to flush out Dr. Tabane, since pretty much everyone else related to her was either in protective custody or a champion IS combatant. Honestly, I don't really care. I got to work with IS suits, earn a Class Four ISDL, and once I finished my apprenticeship, get on the company payroll." Ichika replied.

"So how much do IS engineers make anyway?" Theresa asked.

"Well, I'm not being paid at the moment since I'm here at IS Academy as a representative candidate, but the average IS engineer earns around five thousand yen an hour." Theresa whistled at that.

"Looks like you're set for life." She finally said.

"I guess I am. Now you see why I don't mind paying?" Ichika replied, just as the waitress approached.

"Here you are. Enjoy your meals!" She said, handing out the squadron's orders with practiced ease.

"Thank you very much." Ichika replied as he looked down at his order. They appeared to be oddly shaped dumplings, covered with a mixture of sour cream, black pepper and dill leaves to taste. A taste of one confirmed that, while they tasted odd, they were indeed quite good.

"The menu wasn't lying when it said that yesterday's borscht is best. This is delicious!" Sakura exclaimed, her mouth surrounded by a small layer of red soup.

"Um... You're supposed to put the sour cream in first." Rei said as she did just that, her own soup turning a light pink as she stirred the sour cream in.

"Nonsense! It tastes perfectly fine as it is!" Sakura replied, spreading the cream on her bread and dipping the result into the borscht.

"Besides, this is how you're supposed to eat it!" She finished after taking a bite of the result.

"What about you, Theresa-san? How are you liking yours?" Ayane asked. It was a while before Theresa replied, as she was busy eating.

"This is delicious! You can argue about borscht all you want, I can definitely say that this is better!" She finally said.

"I'm glad you like it. It has to be better than your original suggestion." Ayane replied, taking a bite of her own meal, which appeared to be a boiled cabbage leaf wrapped around a meat and vegetable filling.

"No! Don't start that argument again!" Sakura exclaimed as Theresa prepared to retort. Rei nodded in agreement.

"Fine. I will be the better lady and ignore that obvious attempt at provocation." Theresa sniffed.

"What about you, Ichika?" Sakura asked.

"I like it, although looking what you ordered, I can't help but think it's a little on the simple side." He replied.

"Can I try some?" She asked. Ichika blinked at that before nodding.

"I... I guess. Why not?" He said, spearing one of the pelmeni with his fork and passing it to his squadmate, thinking she would take it with her own. Instead, she leaned in and ate it off of his, a smile on her face.

"Success! I can't wait to mention this out of context and brag to all my friends!" She exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. For a moment, everyone just stared at her, before Theresa broke out laughing. Ayane attempted to hide her own smirk behind a sip of tea, only to realize that her cup was empty. Rei merely smiled faintly as the taller girl scrambled to refill it.

"I guess I walked right into that one." Ichika groaned, laughing along.

The rest of the meal went by quickly, and true to his word, Ichika paid when the waitress came around once more. It was when they were waiting for the waitress to return that Ichika noticed the unfamiliar figure walking towards him.

"Ah... Hello... A-Are you with IS Academy?" The girl asked, her Japanese hesitant with a thick Russian accent.

"Yes I am. Are you a transfer student?" Ichika replied, switching to Russian. The girl's eyes widened, before she smiled and began to speak so quickly that Ichika had trouble following.

"Yes, I am a transfer student. I'm Sasha Vadimova, pilot of the Chernaya Karakatitsa! I just came here today, and I'm supposed to report there tomorrow for something called squadron assignment. I was just wondering if you could help me, because I really don't know my way around here, but I wasn't sure if you were really at IS Academy since you are a boy. I mean, I know your friend has a pilot suit, but it could just be an odd local fashion trend, and-" Ichika cut her off.

"Please, slow down. Don't worry, I'll show you around. It's not the first time I've done it, after all." He replied.

"You will? Thank you so much!" Sasha exclaimed.

"Yes, I will. Now, you had a question about squadron formation?" Ichika asked.

"Yes. What is it?" Sasha replied.

"Well, they recently changed up the curriculum, so you're likely going to be assigned to a team of IS pilots. You'll be working together with them in tournaments, practice exercises, everything really. I'd explain more, but I think it's best for you to find out for yourself." Ichika explained, keeping a friendly smile on his face.

"Ah... That sounds very interesting. Thanks for telling me!" Sasha exclaimed.

"No problem. We could be classmates in the near future, after all!" He replied.

"I hope so! If everyone is friendly like you, I think I'll really love it here! See you tomorrow!" Sasha replied, turning away and waving goodbye.

Ichika waited until she was out of earshot before letting his smile fade.

"We're going to have to keep an eye out for her." He said, picking up his tea.

"What were you two talking about anyway?" Ayane asked.

"Just some introductions and explanations. She was wondering if we were from IS Academy, since she's starting there tomorrow." He replied.

"Why do we have to look out for her?" Theresa asked.

"Think about it, Theresa-san. Russia is in the middle of a civil war, and she comes here as a representative candidate? I'm no spy, but even I can tell that there's something going on." Ayane replied, before looking over at Ichika.

"Did you ask where she was from?" She asked.

"No. I had the same thoughts as you, and I didn't want to risk mentioning it." He replied.

"But why are you all so suspicious? W-What if she's just a refugee?" Rei asked.

"If she were a normal student that would be a possibility, but she's a representative candidate. She has an IS core, and we all know how precious those are. The only way she could have gotten her hands on one is if her government gave it to her, or she stole it. Neither possibility is particularly pleasant." Ichika replied.

"And our dinner was going so well too!" Sakura sighed, taking another sip of tea.

"I really hope we're just overreacting." Theresa added, finishing her own drink.

"I do too. I don't want to consider the alternatives." Ichika replied, leaning back into his chair, teacup drained.

"Thank you for dining at the Tul'ski Samovar! I hope you all enjoyed your meals!" The waitress chose that moment to appear, receipt in hand.

"They were wonderful. Thank you very much." Ichika replied, taking back his academy credit card.

"We should get going. I promised some of my friends that I would meet them later." Theresa said as the squadron stood. Her advice was promptly heeded, and the squadron headed back to IS Academy.

* * *

"Ichika! There you are!" Charlotte's voice made him pause as he ascended the steps to his temporary living quarters.

"Charlotte? What is it?" He asked, turning to face the French girl, who paused and seemed to consider her words before speaking up.

"Nothing, really. I just wanted to talk." She replied, leaning against a wall.

"Oh." Ichika replied, unsure of how to proceed.

"So... How was your day?" Charlotte asked somewhat awkwardly as she started to walk, Ichika following right behind her.

"Productive, to say the least. I had some early classes with Chifuyu-nee, then my squadron had a practice match against Houki's." He replied.

"Oh yeah! That was today, wasn't it? How did Tabane's upgrades turn out?" Charlotte asked.

"Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that she personally handed them to Houki, I wouldn't think of them as her work. They were poorly calibrated, underarmed, and of completely inferior quality. Even for something clearly designed to play second fiddle to Akatsubaki they are underwhelming." He replied, adding a dismissive wave for good measure.

"Aren't you being a little too harsh? Their pilots don't have the experience we do, and it was their first time fighting in their new suits."

"No, the pilots were good enough. However, they weren't able to do much with their little naginatas when we were sniping them from three kilometers away, and according to the pilots the suits were incredibly prone to overcompensating movements, which stinks of poor calibration. Honestly, they would have done better if they had been in Uchigane trainers." Ichika explained.

"Ah... So how did the match end?"

"Akatsubaki underwent a shift at the last minute and wiped the floor with us. The Infinite Arsenal needs an upgrade soon, that's for sure." Charlotte laughed at that.

"That must have been fun... So what happened afterwards?"

"Well, for a job well done, I treated my squadron at restaurant row. We found a nice Russian restaurant, and talked a bit about nothing in particular."

"Oh. So, is Russian food good?"

"I liked it."

"I guess every culture can produce tasty things. Even Cecilia can make good food every once in a while, provided that you assume making is synonymous with watching more qualified people do their job. However, no matter how you look at it, French food is hands-down the best in the world. My pride as a Frenchwoman tells me as much!" Charlotte replied in a faux snobbish voice before breaking down into laughter.

"Anyway, after we finished eating, we ended up meeting another representative candidate who should be arriving here some time tomorrow. She's from Russia, incidentally, although I didn't pry as to which one for obvious reasons." Charlotte's face grew somber as he spoke.

"Nasty business going on up there, that's for sure." She replied.

"That there is. Hopefully it will be over soon." Ichika said, and Charlotte nodded. The rest of the short trip to her room was spent in silence.

Finally, with a quick swipe of her keycard, Charlotte opened the door and they stepped in.

"Hmm, Laura's not here yet. She must still be practicing with her squadron." She murmured.

"Why am I not surprised?" Ichika replied.

"Laura is never one to do things halfheartedly. I can't help but feel sorry for the students under her command though. She has high expectations, and expects for them to be met at all times. At least her squadron seems to be rising to the challenge."

"That's good to hear. What about you?" He asked.

"Everything is going pretty well. I installed my upgrade packages successfully, and... Well, I have a practice match with Laura scheduled for tomorrow. Hopefully it will go smoothly!" She replied.

"That's great to hear. Good luck."

"Thank you. I'll do my best."

Before Ichika could reply, the door clicked open, and an exhausted looking Laura walked in, flopping down on her bed with a muttered 'I'm back!'.

"Is something wrong?" Charlotte asked, walking over and sitting down beside her.

"No, no. Why are you asking?" Laura replied, her one visible eye blinking open.

"Well, you're not usually this tired, even after squadron practice." Charlotte answered.

"Ah... It's nothing..." Laura murmured, only for her stomach to growl.

"Laura... Did you skip dinner again?" Charlotte asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously. After a long pause, Laura nodded.

"Come on Laura, it's not healthy! You'll waste away if you keep skipping meals like this!" Laura hung her head at that, refusing to meet Charlotte's gaze as she scolded her. After a few moments, Charlotte's expression softened and she patted Laura on her head, getting a faint smile from the other girl in response.

"Alright, I guess I'll have to make dinner again. Get some rest while I warm it up, alright?" Charlotte said as she stood up, walking over to the room's fridge and opening it. After a few moments of inspecting the contents, she sighed and shook her head.

"It looks like I'm going to have to get some ingredients. Ichika, look after her while I'm out, would you?" Charlotte asked as she headed for the door. She left before Ichika could respond.

For a few long moments, the room was silent before Laura sat up, all traces of exhaustion fading away.

"Ichika, we need to talk." She said, looking him in the eye.

"What is it, Laura?" He asked.

"Charlotte told me something very interesting yesterday, concerning the immediate aftermath of the Silver Gospel incident." The silver haired girl replied, eyes narrowing. Ichika merely nodded in response.

"What did she say?" He asked.

"Well, do you remember how we were temporarily detained at your Organization's base?" It was a rhetorical question. Of course Ichika knew, he had negotiated her way off that island.

"Of course I do." He replied.

"Well, during that time period, I remember being told that my fellow detainees refused your Organization's generous offer of membership. Imagine my surprise, then, when Charlotte slipped up and mixes up a pronoun during a routine discussion of IS equipment, leading to her revealing to me that what I was told that night was a lie. Does that ring a bell?" Laura said.

"I see." Ichika replied simply.

"Is that all?" Laura demanded.

"No. However, before I continue, let me ask you this. Are you angry at Charlotte for lying to you?" Ichika asked.

"No. She was following orders that, in her mind, were for my benefit. No harm came to any of the involved parties as a result of those orders, therefore I see no reason to feel anger towards her." Laura replied, her tone clipped and formal, her voice emotionless.

"That is good to hear. Especially considering how I was the one who indirectly issued that order." Ichika replied, matching her tone.

"Explain." Laura ordered.

"While you were detained, I was being debriefed. Over the course of the discussion, you came up. I was ordered to either come up with my own solution that met all requirements, or give my recommendation for one of two existing solutions."

"Solutions to what?"

"The problem of having multiple unaffiliated individuals knowing the location of a secret paramilitary organization's main base of operations, where several of these individuals possessing strong connections to potentially dangerous security risks." He answered. Laura nodded but said nothing, instead motioning for him to continue.

"I had two solutions proposed to me. The first was to subject you all to an unproven memory modification treatment with unknown permanence and side effects. The second was to detain you at the base indefinitely, while Kanzashi and I come back claiming to be the sole survivors of a Phantom Task ambush. I did not consider either solution optimal."

"So you devised your own." Ichika nodded at that.

"I did. The two most pressing security risks were you and Houki. Houki ended up not being a problem, as her communication with her sister is fairly infrequent, and their relationship is strained enough that sensitive information would not be passed between them. You, however, were and still are loyal to the German military. That loyalty, while admirable, had to be circumvented if I was to get you all off the island with your minds intact." He continued.

"I see. So you convinced your superiors that keeping me ignorant would minimize the security risk I pose, thus securing the freedom of myself and my fellow students." Laura mused.

"Exactly." Ichika replied.

For a long moment, the room was silent, before Laura finally sighed, collapsing back into her bed.

"Well, it's a moot point now. Even if I were to send a message to Germany containing everything I know of your Organization, the AI your people put in my suit would be able to suppress it before it can reach its intended recipient." She said tiredly, her voice filled with resignation.

"So what now?" Ichika asked.

"Now? Now I do nothing." Laura replied.

"Nothing? Really?" Ichika asked, curious.

"If I were to act on what I know, the Organization would know. Regardless of who reports it to them, they will know, and then they will target you, or even worse, they will target Charlotte in order to keep my silence." Laura replied.

"The Organization would never-" Ichika tried to deny, but Laura waved a hand and cut him off.

"You never struck me as the naive type, Ichika, so don't start now. An Organization that would indefinitely detain five girls on an island would have no problem targeting one to ensure my silence." She stated, fixing him once more with her stare.

"That's... I can see what you mean." He conceded after a few moments.

"So I will do nothing. So far, while your Organization has earned my suspicion and distrust, it has not earned my animosity. It has stayed true to its stated purpose and combated Phantom Task around the globe. Assuming it continues to do so, I will not take action. However..." Laura continued, reaching under her pillow. When she withdrew her hand, it held a gun.

"In the event of the Organization deviating from its stated goals and acting against the interests of the civilized world, I will do everything in my power to bring it down... And I would like to know where you would stand in such matters." She finished, laying the gun down on the bedside table.

When no response came, she continued speaking.

"Ichika, I am serious. Suppose your Organization launched an attack on, say, Beijing tomorrow and ordered you to participate, what would you do?"

For a while, Ichika did not respond. What could he say?

"Answer me, Orimura."

"I... I would do the right thing." He finally said.

"And what would be the right thing to do?" Laura asked, eyebrow raised.

"The right thing is what I consider it to be. If it contradicts my orders or complies with them, so be it." He replied, meeting her gaze. For a while, they stared at each other before finally Laura smiled.

"Good. If the Chinese were secretly aiding Phantom Task, I would fight alongside you regardless of the consequences." Laura replied, putting the gun away.

"Ichika... I learned very early on that, while orders are meant to be followed, one must be ready to think about them and, if necessary, be prepared to disobey them. Germany learned the hard way that blindly following orders can lead to the deaths of millions. I will not let you become guilty of the same crime." She continued.

"I have no intention of-" Once again, Laura cut him off before he could finish.

"I know. That is why I am here and not in a cell on your island base. Had you not considered things that day, I would not be here right now. For that... Thank you." Laura replied.

"You're not angry?" Ichika asked.

"Why would I be angry at you? If lying to me meant saving Charlotte and everyone else, I would have gladly remained ignorant. Sometimes there are no perfect solutions and we must do what we can to save what we can, and you did just that. So I am not angry that you lied to me, or that you ordered Charlotte to do the same. I am annoyed at the deception, yes, but not angry." Laura replied, a slight smile on her face.

"So what happens now?" Ichika asked.

"Well, Charlotte should be coming back soon, so I would like to invite you to stay with us for dinner." Laura answered after a moment's thought.

"You're not going to poison it, are you?" Laura laughed at that.

"I'm a soldier, not an assassin. If I wanted you dead, I would have just shot you." She replied.

"That does not make me feel any better." Ichika deadpanned.

"No, I suppose it would not." Laura replied, still smiling.

It was a while before either of them spoke again, the only sound in the room being that of the clock ticking. Finally, Laura broke the silence.

"Ichika..."

"Yes?" He replied.

"Will you trust me to be your conscience? I-I mean, if I were to tell you that you are wrong, will you trust me enough to stop?" She asked.

"I don't understand." Ichika replied.

"I... I'm not sure I said it right. It's... It can be very difficult to disobey an order from a superior. There have been multiple experiments done that prove it. What I'm trying to say is that, if I tell you to stop, and that what you are doing is wrong, will you stop?" Laura asked.

"Of course I would!" Ichika exclaimed.

"Good... Ichika, you're not a bad person. Sure you lied to me, and you've broken plenty of laws merely by being part of the Organization, but you were also the one who pulled me out of the Schwarzer Regen when it... Malfunctioned. You helped Charlotte resolve her issues with her family, and I know that everything you do with the Organization has good intentions behind it... But I believe the saying goes that 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'. I just want to make sure that your intentions line up with your deeds. I... I don't want you to become what you're fighting against without ever knowing it!" Laura exclaimed, choking up slightly and looking away, although not quickly enough to hide the solitary tear on her cheek.

Rather than reply in words, Ichika walked over and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him.

"Don't worry, Laura. I trust you. If we both do our best, I know it will never happen." He murmured, as Laura returned the embrace.

"I know, but-" Laura began, but Ichika cut her off with a finger to her lips.

"It won't." Ichika repeated. Laura merely hummed in response and held him tighter.

Then, the door clicked open and Charlotte walked in.

"I'm back!" She announced cheerfully, placing the food down in the kitchenette as she did so. Ichika and Laura promptly sprang apart, but not before she noticed them.

"T-This isn't what it looks like! I-I didn't do anything! I swear!" Laura protested immediately. Charlotte merely blinked for a few moments before laughing.

"Didn't do what?" She teased, walking over to where the two of them sat and giving Laura a quick hug.

"It looks like you rested up quite nicely, so do you mind helping me with the dinner? Ichika, you come too. It will go faster with all three of us." She said, before turning back to the kitchenette, her two new assistants in tow. Soon the room began to fill with the delicious smell of cooking food, and before they knew it, the food was finished.

"Bon appetit!" Charlotte said as she placed a plate full of crepes down beside the stove. Already, Laura had taken one and was in the process of filling it with a variety of meats and vegetables. Not wanting to be rude, Ichika did the same. Placing the stuffed crepe on the still warm frying pan, he waited for a few minutes before taking it off.

"You're not having any more?" Charlotte asked as he walked over to the table.

"I'm afraid I already ate before coming here, so I'm not very hungry." Ichika replied as Laura sat down across from him, three stuffed crepes on her own plate.

"Oh. Well, if you want some more, feel free to take them. I made plenty!" Charlotte replied, sitting down beside Laura.

"Delicious as always. This is so much better than what they serve in the cafeteria!" Laura smiled as she took the first bite of her own food.

"Don't tell me you skipped dinner on purpose!" Charlotte exclaimed in mock horror.

"W-Well..." Laura began to protest, an embarrassed blush on her face. Charlotte giggled a little at the sight.

"You're so cute when you do that!" She exclaimed, before a devious smile appeared on her face. Spearing one of Laura's crepes with her fork, she held it out in front of the silver haired girl.

"Now say 'Ah~!'" She sang, causing Laura's already red face to darken further.

"C-Charlotte! Ichika is watching!" She protested.

"So what? Let him! Now say 'Ah~!'" Charlotte repeated.

"A-Ah!" Laura finally complied, opening her mouth and allowing Charlotte to feed her. The sight of the normally stoic girl being flustered in such a manner was too much for Ichika, who after a valiant attempt at restraint, burst out laughing, causing Laura to blush even further.

"Don't laugh!" She managed to stammer out.

"S-Sorry! B-But you looked so funny!" Ichika choked out in between bouts of laughter, causing Laura to look over to Charlotte for support only to see the blonde girl giggling as well. For a moment, she just stared, before smiling and picking up one of Charlotte's crepes.

"Your turn Charlotte! Say 'Ah~!'" She ordered, causing the room to go silent, at least for a moment. Then, Ichika began laughing again, as Charlotte blushed at being on the receiving end of her own teasing.

The rest of the evening passed by on a similar note, and Ichika was still laughing slightly as he excused himself and headed off to his room. He swiped his keycard twice before realizing he was using the wrong one, much to his annoyance. When he did open the door, he saw that the room's other occupant was already inside.

"You're back late." Tatenashi commented from where she lay on one of the beds, clad in only a bathrobe.

"What can I say? I stopped for a chat and one thing led to another." At that, Tatenashi looked up, one eyebrow raised.

"You naughty boy. Did you really manage to seduce one of the girls here in the span of a few hours?" She asked. Ichika merely laughed.

"No, but I did meet someone interesting. She's a representative candidate who officially arrives here tomorrow." He replied.

"Vadimova-san? Yes, I heard. She's from East Russia, and has one of their three IS cores with her. What was she like?" Tatenashi asked.

"A little nervous, but not particularly suspicious." He replied.

"Good. Hopefully there's no foul play involved, but you can never be sure. I'll have to keep an eye on her." She mused, before lying back down.

"Still, there's not much I can do when she's not even here, so no sense in worrying too much about it. Now, it's getting late, and I have to get up early tomorrow. Student council stuff." Tatenashi continued, yawning as she finished.

"You get up early every day." Ichika commented.

"Perks of being student council president." Tatenashi replied as she began to strip off her bathrobe, Ichika rolling over onto his other side as he did so. He had found out the hard way that Tatenashi preferred to sleep in the nude, and did not wish to repeat that embarrassing sequence of events again.

"Oh come on Ichika! I don't mind!" Tatenashi teased as she reached for the light switch and bathed the room in darkness.

"Thanks again for letting me sleep here." Ichika said after a few moments.

"You say that every time." Tatenashi commented.

"I know. I'm thankful every time." Ichika replied, causing Tatenashi to laugh.

"You're welcome. Goodnight, Orimura-kun." She said.

"Goodnight, Tatenashi-san." He replied, allowing his eyes to close and his mind to drift off once more.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright, it's finally done. Took a lot longer than I thought, but what is life if not an endless sequence of delays?**

 **Now for my usual post-chapter notes for those who are interested.**

 **First off, after some deliberations I decided against including scenes with Ichika working with Houki's squadron to improve their IS suits for fear of getting bogged down in infodumps and technological exposition that would ultimately have little relevance in the future. As such, I instead decided to showcase the aftereffects of this work in a fight scene, with some discussion immediately afterwards to complement it. The second point of that battle scene was to explain the sudden appearance of Akatsubaki's energy crossbows in Season 2 that were clearly not there at first. There was no real explanation in the anime, and the only info I saw on the wiki was that Houki increased her skill and thus unlocked additional functionality. I interpreted that as Akatsubaki having undergone a Shift off screen, and thus I decided to write that in just for fun.**

 **Next, the restaurant scene also had a twofold purpose. The first is to give some non-business interaction time to Archer squadron, where nobody involved has anything to do and they can just talk. In most previous scenes, they are either in combat, or Ichika is working on something while they either help out or do their own thing, so it was nice to change things up and allow Ichika to loosen up a bit.**

 **The second purpose was, of course, to introduce Sasha, whom I obviously have plans for. I've been setting up her appearance for a few chapters now, and I hope you all enjoy what I have in store for her.**

 **The final major scene with Laura and Charlotte was originally meant to be much lighter, as it originally involved Cecilia roping Charlotte and Laura into making Ichika try on his butler outfit, the purpose of said scene being merely to give some screentime to the aforementioned girls, whom I have been neglecting in favor of Tatenashi, Houki and Archer Squadron in recent chapters. I ended up deleting it due to it feeling too much like standard Infinite Stratos filler, not accomplishing much and generally having no purpose other than fanservice, which doesn't really carry over to text all that well. As such, I instead decided to tie up loose ends from way back in chapter fourteen. I had originally intended to expand on those much sooner, but I ultimately ended up shelving them because i couldn't really find a way to include them in the manner I had hoped, so I ended up shelving them until now.**

 **As such, I used the opportunity to showcase both Charlotte and Laura's interactions with each other, with Charlotte taking on a more motherly/big sister-y role towards the somewhat less mature Laura, with Laura clearly enjoying the treatment she was likely denied in her own childhood. More importantly, it allowed me to showcase more clearly how Laura thinks. We must remember that, for all her cuteness and lovable ignorance of the wider world, she was still raised from birth to be a soldier, and as such is not exactly a well-adjusted individual. I do hope I showcased that enough in her interactions this chapter.**

 **Additionally, I would like to congratulate AzureTemplar3535 for being the first to complete an OC squadron on this fic's forums. Should I ever need an OC squadron, his will be the first to fill in the gap, saving me time and giving him a chance to see his own creations in action.**

 **Finally, as always, if you notice any glaring inconsistencies or other issues with this story, please notify me and I will address them. Enjoy!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Here it is, the next chapter.** **Before I begin, however, I wish to address recent reviews by Atomos and xxOblivionxxx, which both focus on the White Knight incident. Firstly, it is IS Canon that the White Knight IS intercepted hundreds of nuclear weapons that were fired at Japan by, in canon's own words, 'an unknown hacker'. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of how nations safeguard their nuclear arsenals know that this is bullshit, and anyone with access to a globe will know that the chances of an IS intercepting all those nukes is slim to none.**

 **That is exactly why, when it was implied that Tabane was responsible for the whole thing, it came as no surprise to me. It also gave me a benchmark as to Tabane's capabilities on a global scale, as she was not only able to somehow infiltrate and activate hundreds if not thousands of nuclear silos simultaneously, but she was also able to somehow alter their trajectories to ensure that every single warhead fired passed through the same point at around the same time, where the White Knight could feasibly intercept them.**

 **It also puts a whole new spin on the Alaska Treaty. In canon, it is said that the IS rendered all other military technology obsolete. That is simply impossible, and the only thing the IS could completely replace in the global military arsenal is the attack helicopter. The technology involved in the IS suit would throw the world of military R &D into chaos as existing projects are rendered obsolete by new emerging technology, but an IS would not be able to replace tanks or fighter jets, or warships, or infantry on the battlefield.**

 **Thus, the nations involved in the Alaska Treaty couldn't care less about the IS suit. However, they still went along with Tabane because they didn't want to antagonize the individual who evidently has the capability to fire off a metric apocalypse-worth of nukes at the drop of a hat. Everything else about the IS rendering all modern military tech obsolete was therefore a ploy to save face and divert attention from the fact that world governments no longer had complete control over their own nuclear weapons.**

 **Those are my thoughts on the White Knight incident. Now, on with the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

"Wakey wakey! Rise and shine!" The unsettling, cheerful voice of Dr. Meusel was the first thing Reikou heard as she opened her eyes. The light she saw was blindingly white, courtesy of a lamp being shined in her face.

"What are you doing?" Reikou groaned out as she tried to sit up, propping herself up on one arm. Gritting her teeth against the pain from her body, she slowly but surely dragged herself to a sitting position, her eyes fixed on the infuriating doctor that stood by her bedside.

"My my, is that any way to greet someone who spent the past few months saving your life?" Aaron asked.

"Months? How long was I out?" Reikou demanded.

"You haven't woken up since the Gospel incident. Granted, I kept you under for a fair portion of that time, but either way, you've missed a fair bit." The doctor replied. That was when Reikou noticed something. Her torso ached, her head ached, but her arms and legs did not. Bringing one arm up to her eyes, they narrowed as she saw metal instead of flesh.

"What did you do?" She demanded.

"Well, as I said, I kept you under for a while. I could have made you functional in a matter of weeks, but then I had an idea. Well, three ideas, but they were basically the same thing. I ended up replacing your legs and your left arm." Aaron explained, the smile never leaving his face.

"You-!" Reikou roared, leaping out of her bed only to collapse as electricity coursed through her body.

"Now that was quite rude. I know you Orimuras prided yourself on your so-called 'perfection of the flesh', but I would think that attacking someone who just saved your life goes a bit too far." Aaron scolded as Reikou writhed on the floor. When she did not cry out, he sighed, before continuing.

"As you may have noticed, I have made a few other alterations to your body as well. Your spine, for example, just had to go, as did a good portion of your organs. I'm afraid your days of being a potential donor are at an end." The doctor continued, stopping the electric shocks and allowing Reikou to shakily regain her footing. Her face contorted in rage as her remaining organic hand reached around her back, feeling the metal ridges that had replaced her spinal column.

"When my family hears about this, they will ruin you!" Reikou growled.

"Your family is either dead or making itself useful to me, Orimura. I have excused your insubordinate behavior so far because of your circumstances, but enough is enough. The time of me working under you is long over. You are my subordinate now, Orimura Reikou, and as you may have noticed, I have taken steps to ensure your continued obedience." Aaron lectured, his voice clipped and serious.

"What do you mean? What have you done to my family?" Reikou demanded.

"While you were sleeping, I was busy rising through the ranks. Some of your family members opposed me. I dealt with them. Those that remain are the ones who either made themselves useful, like your daughter." Aaron replied.

"That defect is no daughter of mine." Reikou hissed.

"Shame. She has been rather active lately. She even stole an IS from right under the noses of the British government, something that dear mommy has never managed to do. You could gain a lot by associating with her." Aaron smirked as Reikou's fists clenched.

"Sir, is this a bad time?" Another voice caused Aaron to turn. Standing in the entrance of the room was a young man carrying a clipboard.

"No, it is not. What is it?" Aaron demanded.

"The latest beacon-to-beacon test was a success. I have the detailed report here, sir." The other man reported, handing over the clipboard. Aaron looked over it briefly before smiling.

"Excellent. You are dismissed. Tell your superiors in the labs that they are to start work on making the beacons feasible to mass-produce. The resource costs for this test were... Exceedingly high." Aaron replied, and the man saluted before spinning around on his heels and leaving.

"It appears things are proceeding ahead of schedule. It's amazing how much can get done when a bunch of squabbling families are replaced with single-minded science." Aaron sighed, before turning back to Reikou.

"Now, hearing that good news has improved my mood quite a bit, so I will be generous and give you three days to recuperate before sending you out on your next mission. I suggest you use the time to become useful to me, or you might just find out that your family will be passed over when our great organization finally makes its move. Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to do." With those words, Aaron turned and swept out of the room, leaving Reikou alone.

For a long moment, she merely sat there, shaking with both rage and pain. She did not realize she was crying until she glanced in a nearby mirror and saw the tears streaming down the left side of her face. The sight caused her hand to clench, and she heard metal groan beneath her newly artificial limb.

"I will end you, Meusel. You have reduced my proud family to traitors and defects. You have desecrated my body. You have tried to leash me like a dog... For these insults to me and my family, I will kill you and erase your family from history. This, I swear." She muttered, before grabbing a scalpel and dragging its blade across her remaining palm. She relished the pain, knowing that it was a sign that some of her body remained pure. As the wound began to knit itself back together, she smiled, watching the scar form, commemorating the oath she had just made in the medium that her family had labored so hard to master. Then, she stood and left the room.

* * *

Even at night, the engineering bay echoed with the sound of humming machinery as opportunistic students worked around the clock to get their Blank Slates in fighting shape. Archer Squadron was no exception, as Ichika and Rei had spent several late nights hard at work, building a counter for Akatsubaki.

"Thanks for helping me out, Rei." Ichika said from where he sat at a computer terminal. Behind him, Rei blushed slightly before responding.

"I-It was no problem." She said, looking up from her inspection of the four barreled cannon they had been working on. Ichika smiled, before pressing a button. The cannon whirred into life, radiators expanding and slowly starting to glow red as the weapon dry-fired.

"Any problems?" Ichika asked.

"None! I think it's ready!" Rei replied, excitement filling her voice.

"Good." Ichika replied, and deployed the Infinite Arsenal. A quick scan, and the weapon faded away into IS-space, before reappearing a few moments later on the suit's arm.

"Ready to test it out?" Rei asked as Ichika moved the arm around experimentally. When no problem manifested, Ichika stowed his IS away and nodded.

"Yeah, let's do it." He said, and led Rei out the door, the girl shutting off the lights and locking the door behind them.

The night air was cool against Ichika's face as he exited the engineering complex, but it was far from dark. While most of the windows in the buildings around him were black, lampposts lit up the academy grounds, ensuring that the two of them did not have any problem finding the launch station. They briefly went their separate ways as they changed into their pilot suits. Ichika was the first to leave the changing room, or rather, the changing booth. Evidently, the gender disparity had been taken into account when designing the newer changing rooms, as while the girls got a large locker complex, the boys, or rather, the boy, got a small booth with a single locker.

Rei exited a few moments later, and together they logged two IS departures at a nearby terminal.

"Let's go." Ichika said, propelling himself into the clear night sky, Rei following behind him. After a few minutes of moonlit flight, Rei spoke up.

"Think this is far enough?" She asked. Ichika turned back to face her, seeing the lights of IS Academy in the distance as he did so.

"Yeah, it should be. Don't think it will wake anyone up, at least." Ichika answered.

"Great. What distance do you want me at?" Rei asked.

"Five kilometers is a good starting point. I know Akatsubaki's crossbows have at least three kilometers of range, so I want to see if this weapon can beat them." Ichika replied.

"Alright. Should I go north or south?" Rei asked eagerly.

"Either way is good... You don't have to do this though. I can just as easily use one of my drones for target practice." Ichika said.

"What kind of an engineer would I be if I were too afraid to experience my work firsthand?" Rei replied, before taking off, her IS rapidly fading into the distance until Ichika was forced to use his hyper-sensor to track her. Soon, she arrived at the target distance and gave him a wave, signalling that it was time to commence the firing test.

Centering Rei in his sights and listening for the lock-on tone, Ichika opened a channel to his partner.

"Commencing firing test, four shot burst." He said, before firing. He promptly felt his entire IS shake from the force of the burst, as even with a small impulse drive built into it to counter the recoil it kicked hard. A second later, he saw a patch of sky briefly glow with a bright white light, and shortly afterward he heard a faint echo.

"Holy... The test is a success! Another volley like that and my ADS would be up! What about you? Did anything go wrong on your end?" Rei exclaimed after a few seconds of silence.

"One second, I'm reviewing slow-motion footage of the shot." Ichika replied as Aki displayed said footage on his helmet HUD. He watched as the first cannon fired, the immense projectile leaving its barrel at hyper-sonic speed. A quick glance at the barrel showed that its heatsink was glowing a bright red. Evidently, the existing cooling system was not powerful enough, as the color was not fading.

A quick glance back at the projectile showed that it had already passed the two hundred meter mark. By the time the second barrel fired, it had traversed another hundred. Ichika continued to track the projectile before it finally split into four parts at the two kilometer mark, with three secondary projectiles exploding off of the central one they had been fixed to.

Finally, they reached their target, and Ichika saw Rei's expression start to morph into one of shock a moment before the first projectiles went off. One scored a direct hit, while the other three went off a few meters above and to the right of her suit. Her shields were still glowing slightly when the second shot connected, one shot slamming home on the tip of Rei's wing, while the other three bracketed her perfectly. It was the third shot, however, that did the most damage, with three shots slamming home, while the third went off less than a meter away from her suit's left leg. By comparison, the fourth shot was not as effective, with only one direct hit and three near misses.

"Anything?" Rei asked again.

"Spread pattern is too tight. Akatsubaki could have dodged that." Ichika replied.

"What? Really?" Rei complained.

"Yeah, it dodged similarly fast projectiles from my railgun at a closer range. Additionally, the secondary rocket boosters did not seem to trigger. Either the ignition system got damaged during the firing process, or the device itself is faulty." Ichika replied.

"Weren't they only supposed to ignite at the last minute to confuse the MIRAI system?" Rei asked.

"Yeah, they were supposed to go off around two hundred and fifty meters away from the target. Unfortunately they did not, and the shots remained in a predictable trajectory. We will have to look into that." Ichika replied.

"I see. Anything else?" Rei asked.

"The gun's cooling system will need an upgrade as well. Temperature readings show that this weapon can only safely output one third of the planned automatic fire rate." Ichika answered.

"That's not good. Should we try another test?"

"Yes. Let's try it at a longer range. Eight kilometers." Ichika replied.

"Got it. Moving out." Rei responded, already flying further away. She finally came to rest near a solitary cloud, eight kilometers away. Once again, Ichika announced his firing of a four-shot burst and, listening for a lock-on tone, fired.

A few moments later, he saw the explosions.

"Less damage this time, I think the spread pattern was wider. I also think the rockets might have ignited this time around, but I can't tell for sure." Rei reported.

"Good." Ichika replied as he looked over the slow-motion recap of the shot, searching for the tell-tale glow of rocket motors igniting. He finally saw it, as the shots approached within fifty meters of Rei's IS. He frowned. The distance was still much too short.

"The rockets did ignite, but not soon enough. They did not have enough time to significantly impact the missiles' flight path." He finally reported.

"Hmm, so the rockets do work. It might just be that the gun cannot send the ignition signal fast enough." Rei mused.

"Increasing the ignition distance might solve that problem. As for the other issues, increasing the power of the decoupler system would solve the spread pattern tightness issue, and the cooling system can be replaced with something more powerful." Ichika said.

"Is that all?" Rei asked.

"Yeah. Let's head back, I think we've done enough tests for now." Ichika replied.

Being both closer to the academy and having a faster IS, Ichika reached the academy first, entering his and Rei's arrival into the computer while he waited for his squad-mate to arrive. He didn't have to wait long, as Rei came down less than a minute later, performing a graceful landing and dismounting her suit with ease. They quickly stowed away their IS suits and entered the launch station, where they quickly changed back into uniform.

"So, same time tomorrow?" Rei asked as she emerged from her changing room.

"Yeah. Hopefully, we can have all the issues ironed out tomorrow, since the battle is this weekend." Ichika replied. Rei laughed slightly.

"Great! I can't wait!" She exclaimed, smiling, causing Ichika to raise an eyebrow.

"Who are you, and what did you do with the Rei I know?" Ichika asked, cocking his head to the side.

"W-What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, normally you're so quiet and when you do speak, you always do it with a stutter." Rei blushed at that, looking away.

"I-I d-don't know what you m-mean." She murmured.

"But when we were working on the Infinite Arsenal's upgrades, I noticed that your stutter almost disappeared. You seemed a lot more confident during our test just now than you were during our squadron practice sessions. What changed?" He finished.

"W-Well..." Rei paused, seemingly unsure of what to say.

"I... I never really wanted to become an IS pilot." She finally finished.

"What? Why not?" Ichika asked, confused.

"I-I wanted to become an IS engineer. I w-wanted to come here to learn how to b-build IS suits, not how to fly them." Rei murmured.

"But then why are you in the pilot roster? I thought engineering-only students were separate from pilot trainees." Ichika asked. Rei blushed at that, and averted his gaze. For a while, she didn't speak.

"P-Promise you won't laugh." She finally said.

"I won't..." Ichika replied, unsure of what would happen next.

"I... I... I checked the wrong box on the online application form! I-I was tired, I hadn't slept in days because I was studying for a Class One ISDL exam. I-I thought it would look good on m-my record to have it there, and when I finally passed I spent all night writing an e-essay about it..." Rei finally stammered out.

"Wait, what? Couldn't you edit your application after submitting it?" Ichika exclaimed.

"The deadline passed by the time I caught my mistake!" Rei replied.

"Oh..." Ichika said, unable to put his thoughts into words.

"A-And when I tried to transfer to Engineering they t-told me the class was full and that I-I would have to wait for next year!" Rei continued.

"I see..."

"B-But that was before the new squadron system. I know I'm not a good pilot, b-but... I don't want to transfer now and leave you all without a fifth squad-mate!" Rei exclaimed.

"If you really want to-" Ichika began, but Rei was not finished.

"But... But then... Then I..." She began, her voice hesitant and unsure. Finally, she shook her head.

"Never mind. Same time tomorrow, right?" She changed the subject.

"Yes. If everything goes to plan, we'll be able to test out the sword as well." Ichika replied.

"I'm looking forward to it. Now, let's go get some sleep. We don't want to screw up because we're tired tomorrow." Rei said as she turned and headed for the door.

"Sleep sounds good right about now... And Rei?" Ichika asked.

"Hm?" The quiet girl paused.

"If you ever need to talk to someone, I'm willing to listen." He said.

"You've done enough already, Ichika-san... But thank you anyway. Good night." Rei replied as she headed out the door.

* * *

The day of the great training match had finally arrived, and forty IS suits stood ready on the launch platform beneath an overcast sky. Thankfully it wasn't raining, so visibility wouldn't be effected, but the clouds were thick enough to serve as viable cover against visual detection.

A quick glance at his helmet's clock told Ichika that it was 11:57, three minutes before the training airspace reservation became official. He would have preferred to have launched already, but apparently one of the reserved training areas was currently in use. As such, the assembled squadrons had to wait, filling the time with idle chatter.

A quick glance at his squadmates showed him that Sakura was in the middle of an animated discussion with two of Cecilia's group, while Theresa and Rei had dismounted and were in the middle of a card game with several other girls from Houki and Laura's squadrons. Finally, Ayane was talking to a third-year student whom Ichika recognized as Honne Nohotoke's older sister, although her name eluded him.

"It's nice to see everyone getting along so well." Charlotte sighed from beside him.

"Hopefully there won't be any hard feelings after the match. I know that some of my squadron can get rather competitive." Laura replied.

"It's just a practice match. If anything, it will let us get to know each other a little more." Kanzashi added, hovering over to them.

"How much longer?" Rin's voice drew his attention, causing him to turn and face her.

"Don't you have a clock of your own?" Ichika asked.

"Yeah, but it's not built into a helmet HUD like yours. I actually have to call it up, and I have to save my effort for the actual match!" Rin replied, grinning. Before Ichika could reply, a sound from above caused him to look up. Five IS suits were approaching from the east, heading for an adjacent landing pad. As he watched, their leader performed a graceful landing, her TIS coming to rest on the metal platform with barely any noise. Two of her squad-mates attempted to duplicate the maneuver, and while they were clearly less skilled, they managed to land with minimal fuss. The third tried to do the same, only to get bowled over by her partner, who had come in too fast and at an incorrect angle. The two of them crashed to the ground, leaving a visible indentation in the platform. Ichika could hear the pilots shouting at each other, while the rest of the squadron was stowing their suits away. As soon as her suit came off, Ichika recognized the leader as Lily Mallory, who, after a few moments, started chastising the fighting pair.

"Attention!" The voice of his older sister drew him away from the spectacle. Turning to face the source, he saw Chifuyu and Maya making their way to the launch platform. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Theresa and Rei scrambling into their IS suits, while one of their opponents quickly grabbed up her cards and made her way to a black IS that was marked with the winged Valkyrie of Laura's squadron.

"A-Are we in trouble, Orimura-sensei?" Charlotte asked.

"Of course not. I'm just here to witness an academy record being set. With eight squadrons and forty pilots, you all will soon hold the record for largest IS battle to take place at IS Academy." Chifuyu explained, a rare smile on her face. Behind her, Maya pulled out a camera.

"Smile!" The green-haired teacher exclaimed, before snapping a few photos.

"Now, before you launch, I will have you all know that I will be watching this match. I don't want to see any foul play." Chifuyu continued.

"You won't." Ichika promised, his words echoed by the rest of the group.

"I had better not." Chifuyu warned, before glancing down at her watch. A quick glance at his own clock showed that it was precisely 12:00. Perfect.

"Alright everyone, it's time. I am sending all squadrons a map of our alotted airspace. As we discussed during breakfast, we will head to our designated starting point and wait for everyone else. Once everyone has reported in, the match will begin. No special rules, elimination only. Last squadron with an active IS wins. Any questions?" Ichika asked. When none came, he nodded.

"Good. May the best squadron win. Let's go!" With those words, forty IS suits took to the sky, quickly spreading out and following their squadron leaders. Soon, the other squadrons were mere specks in the distance, specks that soon vanished entirely as they entered the cloud layer. Laura was the first to report in, which was not surprising given how her starting position was closest to IS Academy. Kanzashi and Houki were next, followed by Rin and Tatenashi.

"So what's the plan?" Theresa asked as they approached their own starting position.

"We'll fly up to the upper edge of the cloud layer and use it as cover while we search for targets. Cecilia and Rin are closest, so I'd expect to run into them first. If we see Cecilia first, then I want Theresa to engage the Blue Tears at range, while the rest of us close the distance and try to engage her squadron in melee. If it's Rin, we scatter and try to split her squadron. Try to draw them into the cloud layer. My suit's sensors are superior to anything Rin's team might have, so we will have the advantage there." Ichika replied as he came to a halt, signalling to the other squadrons that he was ready.

"Understood." His squadron chorused, moments before Charlotte reported in.

"All squadrons have reported in. Good luck everyone, you'll need it." Tatenashi's voice sounded out over the comms. Even before she finished speaking, Archer squadron was already in motion, pushing their suits into a straight vertical climb to the upper edge of the cloud layer. As soon as the clouds started to thin, Ichika leveled off, his squadron splitting into its two sub-elements behind him. A few minutes of silent flight passed by before they spotted their first enemies, or rather, their enemies spotted them.

Out of the sun, a blue lance of light destroyed one of Ichika's shield drones, courtesy of the Blue Tears. Cursing under his breath, Ichika spun around to face her, only to see a swarm of missiles screaming towards the rest of his squadron.

"Missiles! Evade!" He screamed, before pushing his suit's impulse drives to their limit and flying up and out of the cloud layer. As he had thought, a respectable portion of the missiles changed targets, locking on to the most powerful impulse drive signature in the area. As his teammates began their own evasive maneuvers, Ichika continued to rise, flipping his IS upside down as he did so and allowing his point defense lasers to take care of the incoming warheads.

"I can't draw a bead on Cecilia while evading. Someone clear these missiles off of me!" Theresa exclaimed.

"Cut your impulse drives." Rei's response came a second later.

"Are you- Ah, got it." Theresa replied, cutting her indignant exclamation off as she realized what Rei intended to do. A moment later, her IS was dropping like a stone, while Rei flew between her and the missiles, causing them to shift targets.

"There, you should be good to go." Rei replied after she had gotten some distance.

"Thanks. I have Cecilia in my sights." Theresa replied a few seconds later. By then, Ichika's lasers had cleared his own tail, and he dove back down into the clouds, weaving around more blasts from Cecilia's gun as he did so.

"Got her! Firing again!" Theresa exclaimed.

"Good work. She's on to you now." Ichika replied, noting that Cecilia had stopped shooting at him.

"I know. Decoys are up." Theresa replied.

"What about the rest of us? We've still got missiles on our tails!" Ayane exclaimed.

"Not on me, I got mine." Sakura interjected.

"Then help clear my six!" Ayane shouted.

"I'm trying!" Sakura replied as Ichika approached Rei, his lasers quickly clearing the missiles off her tail.

"Stick to the plan. Theresa, keep up the pressure on Cecilia. Everyone else, follow me." Ichika ordered. Rei quickly formed up on him, Sakura and Ayane soon following suit. The four of them burst out of the cloud layer, and they quickly caught sight of their targets. Cecilia had evidently gotten a little ahead of her group, and was now locked in a sniper's duel with Theresa. Cecilia's squadmates, meanwhile, were several kilometers behind her, clearly pushing their suits to the limit as they tried to link up with their squadron lead. No more missiles came from them, meaning that they had either exhausted their ammunition supply, or were conserving their remaining warheads. However, missiles were not their only armament, as they proved by opening fire.

Ichika felt the first railgun slug slam into his IS, causing him to briefly lose control before he could throw his suit into a series of evasive maneuvers. The rest of his squadron did the same, although that did not stop the enemy from landing two direct hits on Sakura's slower IS.

"Looks like it's time for a combat trial. Rei, take notes." Ichika commented as the bulky four-barreled form of his new burst missile gun flashed into being on the Infinite Arsenal's arm.

"Roger that!" Rei exclaimed, just as Ichika heard the lock-on tone. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger, and the weapon roared. He held it down for ten seconds, sending sixty four rounds speeding towards his targets at hypersonic speeds. The sky around Cecilia's squadron went white as over two hunded warheads went off in rapid succession, and as the glow faded, Ichika saw one of Cecilia's squadmates tumble out of the sky, her IS disabled.

"Cooling cycle engaged, ready to fire in six seconds." Ori reported. Unfortunately, he and Rei had not been able to upgrade the cooling system enough for truly continuous fire, but even then, ten seconds was plenty.

"Not enough time. They're almost upon us." Ichika replied, and sure enough, Ayane suddenly stopped her attempts at evasion and made a bee-line towards the nearest enemy. The other girl's rifle was evidently poor in such close quarters, as its wielder quickly swapped it for a one-handed sword, while an energy shield shimmered into being on her off-hand's wrist. She barely had time to raise her weapons before Ayane was on her, striking savagely with all her suit's limbs. The first two strikes, delivered by wing-mounted plasma blades, tied up her opponent's weapons, leaving her open to the rest of Ayane's armaments, which made short work of the other girl.

However, the rapid attack had left Ayane vulnerable, and even as their teammate fell out of the sky, Cecilia's two remaining squadron members turned their focus on her. They were close enough now that Ichika could easily see the missile launch ports on their wings snap open. Before he could warn Ayane, the two girls opened fire, launching every single missile they had in a desperate attempt to eliminate the melee-focused IS in their midst.

However, the missiles did not track Ayane, and instead shot off into the clouds below. A few seconds later, a series of explosions rang out, and the clouds were blown away, revealing a squadron of IS suits that had been using them as cover.

"Another squadron below us... I-It's Charlotte!" Rei exclaimed, and indeed, Charlotte's orange Revive Custom was in the squadron lead position.

"Let's take care of these two first, then engage the newcomers. Theresa, what's your status?" Ichika replied as he fired off another burst, downing another one of Cecilia's squadmates.

"She's good, but I'm bett-" Theresa began, before an explosion interrupted her, causing her to break into a stream of curses.

"Are you alright?" Ichika asked.

"She got a hit, but I'm still in the fight." Theresa replied.

"Good. Keep your eyes peeled for her drones, her sniper rifle isn't her only weapon." Ichika advised as he watched Rei and Sakura engage Cecilia's last squadmate. The girl put up an admirable fight, but with her missiles spent and her main gun all but useless in close quarters, she did not last long.

"Wait, drones? Oh crap! I'm taking fire, requesting assistance!" Theresa cried out. Unfortunately, Charlotte's squadron chose that moment to engage.

"Keep alive for as long as you can, we'll get to you as soon as we're able." Ichika replied as he pushed his suit into an evasive roll, just barely avoiding the initial bursts of machine gun fire. However, he couldn't dodge everything, and very soon he heard bullets slam into his shields. Individually they did little damage, but with so much lead in the air, they were just as lethal, if not more so, than the precise railguns of Cecilia's squadron.

To make matters worse, Ichika saw the trails of missiles rising up to meet his squadron, their paths erratic enough that his point defense lasers had trouble targeting them.

"Wait, Ichika, are you seeing this? Another squadron is inbound!" Theresa exclaimed as Ichika took aim with his burst missile gun.

"Whose is it?" He asked.

"Lead IS is pink... It's Rin! They're engaging the Blue Tears!" Theresa reported.

"Good, use the opportunity to disengage and get over here. We need sniper support." Ichika ordered.

"Roger... Blue Tears just went down by the way. Didn't even stand a chance." Theresa answered.

"Alright, that's one squadron down. Who gets the point?" Ayane asked.

"We do, of course!" Sakura replied in between long bursts of plasma fire. Ayane's reply, if there was one, was cut off as the incoming missiles began detonating. Evidently, they were similar in nature to Ichika's burst missile gun, acting to saturate a large area with explosive firepower.

"Damage report!" Ichika exclaimed, casting a quick glance at his own shields. The missile barrage had a noticeable impact, but nothing too severe.

"M-My shields are almost down. Another b-barrage like that and I'm finished." Rei reported.

"Nothing major here. I'm combat ready." Ayane said.

"Same here. Nothing major... Gotcha!" Sakura exclaimed, before opening fire. The stream of plasma slammed into one of Charlotte's squadmates, whose shields melted away under the barrage. It wasn't long before the other girl was falling out of the sky.

Tracers cracked past Ichika's ears as Charlotte's squadron returned fire. He did the same, firing off another burst of missiles. Almost simultaneously, twin rivers of bright, glowing flares were released from Charlotte's IS, their high speed and erratic flight path identifying them as impulse flares. To his dismay, his missiles tracked them, shooting past Charlotte's squadron and detonating behind it. There was no time to fire a second burst, so Ichika rapid-switched the weapon out for his old plasma gun, which would be more effective in the chaotic dogfight about to take place. Then, he broke left, just barely avoiding a collision with one of Charlotte's squadmates, who rolled over and fired off several blasts from her shotgun as Ichika spun around, unable to avoid the incoming shot that sparked off his shields, doing minimal damage.

His return fire caught her suit's left arm as she tried to flee, backpedaling as fast as her suit could propel her while still firing back at him. Vents opened on her suit's wings, releasing a thick chemical smoke that left his hyper-sensor all but blind. Fortunately, he had the perfect counter. Before his opponent could exploit his newfound vulnerability, several camera drones shimmered into being around him and shot out of the smoke. Ori did the rest, translating the camera readings into images on his HUD, indicating the positions of the IS suits in his vicinity.

Then, the smoke exploded, and he plummeted out of the sky, too shocked at the unexpected development to recover. The moment passed, however, and he rolled onto his back. Still falling, he drew a bead on his opponent, who had, for whatever reason, turned her back on him after igniting the gas she had released. A long burst of plasma slammed straight into the center of her IS, and before she could figure out its source, her ADS had triggered and she fell out of the sky. Unlike Ichika, she would not be able to recover, and splashed into the ocean a few seconds later, starting her long journey back to IS Academy.

The situation in the sky had degenerated into a chaotic melee, as IS suits painted in Ichika and Charlotte's squadron liveries flew in every direction, exchanging fire with everyone around them. To make matters worse, Rin's squadron had decided to enter the fray and was now diving in, releasing missiles as they did so. Once again, Charlotte released impulse flares almost immediately, once again causing the incoming missiles to veer off course.

"What do we do?" Theresa asked.

"Keep fighting, we cannot disengage from this." Ichika replied as he rejoined the fight, drawing a bead on Rin. The Chinese girl noticed him as he approached and responded to his initial burst of plasma fire with a volley of impact cannon blasts. Neither of them hit their target, however, as one of Charlotte's squadmates was unlucky enough to fly between them at just the right moment. Caught between two TIS suits, the poor girl did not stand a chance. Neither did Sakura, who was hot on the girl's tail and unable to change course in time to avoid Rin's follow-up melee strike. Her shields already worn down by combat, she followed her intended quarry out of the battle and into the ocean.

However, her inadvertent sacrifice gave Ichika the time he needed to rapid-switch his plasma cannon out for his shiny new sword, which flashed into existence just fast enough to block Rin's next strike. Through his helmet camera, he saw Rin's eyes widen for a moment, before a manic grin came over her face.

"Hoping for a rematch after I beat you last time?" She asked, idly batting aside Ichika's counter.

"We're even now. I was hoping for a tiebreaker." Ichika replied as he flipped over a swipe of the Souten Gagetsu, calling several gun drones into being as he did so. Bolts of plasma screamed through empty air as Rin dodged, and Ichika was quick to seize the initiative. Rin raised her staff to parry his oncoming strike, but just before it could make contact, Ichika flipped a mental switch and his sword's blade contracted. A moment later, and it was back to its normal size, just in time to slam into the ShenLong. Rin quickly regained control and fired off a burst of impact cannon fire, preventing Ichika from attacking again and allowing her to regain the initiative.

"Not falling for that again!" Rin exclaimed as Ichika attempted to sneak another strike past her guard. This time, Rin parried close to the hilt, before grabbing onto the blade with one hand. Her shields sparked at the contact with the plasma edge, but she ignored the damage and forced the blade aside, raising Souten Gagetsu to strike at him while he was exposed.

Then, Ichika's world exploded into blinding white light, his helmet HUD darkening in response to the exposure.

"Got her!" Theresa exclaimed, as Ichika took aim and fired at his momentarily blinded opponent, scoring several hits before Rin started to shoot back. However, the Chinese girl only got two shots off before Theresa landed another hit. While it wasn't enough to take her out, it was enough to cause Rin to try and search for the source of the incoming fire. As soon as she took her eyes off him, Ichika called as many gun drones as he could into being, all the while getting distance between himself and Rin. By the time the Chinese representative returned her attention to him, it was too late.

From all directions, Ichika's drones opened fire, briefly haloing Rin with plasma. By the time the light faded, Rin was falling out of the sky.

With his opponent taken care of, Ichika took a moment to observe the situation. Immediately, he searched around for Charlotte, the French girl being the largest threat in his vicinity. Her orange Revive was easy to find, as was the rest of Rin's squadron. Evidently, Rin had ordered them to all focus on Charlotte while she took care of Ichika, trusting that Ichika's squadron would be enough to prevent Charlotte's squadmates from interfering.

A white flash in the corner of his eye drew his attention, and he looked over to see Charlotte's last squadmate go down, courtesy of Theresa.

"Hold off, do not engage. Let them wear each other out. Theresa, keep your sights on whomever you think is the most important target, but do not fire." Ichika ordered, before leading the rest of his squadron into a nearby cloud bank. From there, they watched as Charlotte fought a desperate battle against four customized MPIS suits. Like their leader, they seemed to be designed for melee combat, and they had already managed to close the distance. However, Charlotte was far from defenseless, as she demonstrated by taking one of her assailants out with a pile bunker strike, before firing several point-blank shotgun blasts into another. Her opponent's return fire missed its mark, only to impact another one of Rin's squadmates. The girl paused to reprimand her teammate, only to take a burst of assault rifle fire before she could finish. A few seconds later, the squadmate who hit her went down to another shotgun blast. However, in the chaos, Charlotte seemed to lose track of her fourth assailant, who used the opportunity to get behind her and land a powerful blow. As Charlotte turned to counter, Rin's other remaining squadron struck.

It took Charlotte nearly a minute to succumb to her remaining opponents, but she finally fell out of the sky, having taken one blow too many. She left behind two severely weakened opponents, soon reduced to one as Ichika ordered Theresa to take her shot. The sole remaining enemy pilot turned to flee, but did not get far before Rei and Ichika opened fire, quickly sweeping her from the sky.

For a moment, everything was strangely quiet, before Theresa spoke up.

"Looks like we all made it through. What do we do now?" She asked.

"There are still four squadrons unaccounted for. Houki, Laura, Tatenashi and Kanzashi are all out there, and this match isn't over until they're all taken out. It's time to go hunting." Ichika replied.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Let's go!" Theresa replied as she formed up with the rest of her squadron.

"Same plan as before?" Ayane asked.

"Yeah. Theresa will keep her distance and provide fire support, while the rest of us engage. We don't have enough people left for two elements though, so the three of us will stick together in one group. Understood?" Ichika asked.

"Roger!" The rest of his squadron chorused, before following him in search of the rest of their competition.

It was Ayane who first heard the echoes of battle.

"Did you hear that?" She asked, shortly before another distant echo reverberated through the air. This time, the rest of the squadron heard it too.

"Where is it coming from?" Theresa asked. Ayane paused for a moment, listening for another echo before responding.

"Over there, I think it's from a lower altitude, but I'm not sure." She finally said, pointing east.

"You heard her. Possible enemies in the east. Let's check it out." Ichika replied as he turned east, the rest of his squadron close behind him.

A minute later, a stray tracer whizzed by below them, confirming what they already knew.

"Start scanning, they should be nearby." Ichika ordered. Only a few seconds passed before Theresa responded.

"I see them, I'm counting three... five... nine... fourteen! Fourteen IS suits." She counted off.

"Can you identify TIS suits?" Ichika asked.

"Yeah... I see Akatsubaki... Schwarzer Regen... Mysterious Lady... And Kanzashi. All four remaining squadrons are down there." Theresa replied.

"I see. Keep your distance for now, we don't- MISSILE! BREAK!" Ichika shouted as his HUD reported a missile lock. A moment later, the missile was launched, crossing half the distance between its launcher and the Infinite Arsenal before being taken out by a point defense laser.

"Alright, ignore what I just said. Theresa, decoys up. Everyone else, on me. We're going in." Ichika ordered.

"Roger. Time to dive into the fireworks." Theresa replied, decoys shimmering into being all around her.

"You're not diving into anything." Ayane observed.

"I know, I just always wanted to say that line!" Theresa exclaimed as she broke away from the rest of Archer squadron, ascending to a safe distance as the rest of Ichika's squadron dove into the battle.

"Target Houki and her escorts first, we want to knock them out as fast as possible." Ichika ordered, switching to his burst missile gun and locking on to the bright crimson IS.

"Roger!" His squadmates chorused as he pulled the trigger. Less than a second later, the sky lit up with explosions, Akatsubaki caught right in their midst. Ichika grinned at that. His weapon worked as intended!

"I see a target, engaging." Rei said, breaking off to engage one of Houki's disoriented squadmates, who was still struggling to regain control of her IS.

"Ayane, cover Rei. I'll take care of Houki." Ichika ordered, and Ayane obeyed, breaking off after Rei. He watched them out of the corner of his eye while he locked onto Houki once more. Rei attacked first, blazing away with her machine guns as she closed before pulling up at the last minute. A moment later, Ayane shot past her, engaging the weakened enemy, quickly taking them out.

"Get clear, I'm about to fire!" Ichika ordered, and the two girls obeyed, throwing their IS suits into vertical climbs to get out of the blast zone. As soon as he judged them to be at a safe distance, Ichika fired. The explosions were closer together this time around, but still far enough apart that Akatsubaki was unable to properly dodge.

"Ah! I can't move!" Ayane's panicked shout suddenly drew his attention. He looked around, spotting her IS floating in the middle of a shimmering field. At first, he thought it was Laura's doing, but the German girl was twenty kilometers away, fighting Kanzashi.

"It's the Mysterious Lady!" Rei reported a moment later, just as Ichika saw the water droplets surrounding Ayane.

"What do I do?" Ayane exclaimed.

"Nothing." Tatenashi answered as she struck, accelerating to her top speed and slamming her lance into Ayane's back, several water voids absorbing Rei's machine gun fire as she did so. While the initial strike was not enough to put Ayane's IS out of action, the four rotary cannons built into the lance's head were more than enough to finish the job, and soon Ayane was falling out of the sky, her ADS active.

"Rei, get clear, she's out of your league. Theresa, give me some fire support!" Ichika ordered, stopping his attack run on Houki and making a beeline for the Mysterious Lady before its pilot could start attacking Rei. To her credit, Rei was able to avoid the cloud of mist sent her way, although her return fire was once again absorbed by water voids. Then, for a brief instant, the Mysterious Lady flashed white as Theresa's shot hit home. For a moment, Tatenashi's focus seemed to waver, before her water voids reconfigured themselves, with one placing itself between her and Theresa, while the rest continued absorbing Rei's fire.

"Ichika, what are you waiting for? Open fire!" Rei shouted as she threw herself into evasive maneuvers, trying desperately to avoid Tatenashi's strikes.

"You're too close, I cannot-" He began, before Rei cut him off.

"I don't care, fire now!" Rei screamed, a strike from Tatenashi's lance narrowly missing her.

"Understood, firing." Ichika replied, locking on to the Mysterious Lady and pulling the trigger. Tatenashi didn't even have a chance to turn and see her attacker before the missiles went off. Once the glare of the explosions subsided, Ichika scanned the sky and saw two IS suits falling out of the sky.

"How... I'm still active? Ichika, something must have gone wrong!" Rei exclaimed as she pulled out of her fall.

"I have to admit, that was pretty sneaky of you, Ichika-kun! Attacking a lady while her back was turned!" Tatenashi taunted as she leveled off, turning to face Ichika again. Rei took that as her cue to open fire, but once again a water void coalesced between her and her target, absorbing the bullets. Then, Tatenashi's IS flashed white as Theresa scored another hit. Immediately, the water-void between Tatenashi and Rei vanished, before reforming between her and Theresa. Rei's next shots hit home, shattering against the Mysterious Lady's shields, but doing damage nonetheless.

"Hmm... Ichika, that volley must have damaged her water manipulation somehow. I don't think she can keep more than one void up anymore!" Rei exclaimed.

"Let's test that out." Ichika replied, switching to his plasma cannon.

"On my mark, everyone fire. Three... Two... One... FIRE!" Ichika ordered, and the Mysterious Lady's shields sparked as the shots came in. Ichika's own fire was absorbed by Tatenashi's water void, but Theresa and Rei hit their target, despite her attempts to dodge. More shots came in from all around her, as two of Laura's squadmates joined in, while crimson beams from below indicated that Houki was also taking advantage of the situation. Tatenashi's shields couldn't hold for long under the pressure, and soon the Mysterious Lady was falling out of the sky.

"Nice work everyone. Now let's keep up the pressure on Houki!" Ichika replied, scanning the sky as he did so. Tatenashi's two remaining squadmates, suddenly deprived of their leader, had provided a tempting target for Houki's squadron. Akatsubaki made short work of one, leaving the other to face three IS suits alone. That number suddenly dropped to two, however, as Theresa fired, taking out one of Houki's squadmates.

Unfortunately, even with one of her opponents down, the last member of Tatenashi's squadron was outnumbered and outmatched. She did not last long, and was unable to inflict significant damage on either of her opponents before she too was down for the count.

"They're grouped up nicely. I'll fire a barrage, then move in. I will try and draw Houki away, so that the two of you can engage her squadmate. She shouldn't be too hard to take out. Once she's done for, support me while I take out Akatsubaki. Watch your backs, just because Laura and Kanzashi are fighting each other few kilometers away doesn't mean their squadrons won't try and go for targets of opportunity. Understood?" Ichika asked as he rapid-switched in his burst missile cannon.

"Roger!" The surviving members of Archer squadron chorused as he locked on. This time, Houki knew what to expect, and immediately attempted to put some distance between herself and her squadmate. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a miscommunication between the two of them, and said squadmate attempted to stay with her.

A moment later, Ichika pulled the trigger, and the remnants of Houki's squadron vanished in a burst of blue-white light, Ichika's visor going dark for a moment to compensate for the flash. A second later, he heard a quick burst of machine gun fire from Rei, and once his visor cleared he saw Houki's remaining squadmate tumble out of the sky.

"Got one!" Rei exclaimed.

"Just Houki left." Theresa muttered, moments before taking her shot. Ichika saw the oceans below spark in response.

"Missed!" Theresa exclaimed.

"She knows where you are. That means she can see where your shots will go before you pull the trigger." Ichika replied.

"I know, I know! Doesn't make it any easier to hit her!" Theresa replied, before firing again, scoring another miss. Tracers flew all around Akatsubaki as Rei opened fire, but every shot either missed or was intercepted by one of Houki's swords.

However, the MIRAI system could not counter Ichika's burst missile gun, which was still locked on to the crimson TIS. Once more Ichika fired, and once more the air trembled from the subsequent explosions.

"How strong is that thing? She's taken four of those already!" Theresa exclaimed.

"He's got plenty of ammo. He can fire off a hundred more bursts like that without breaking a sweat." Rei replied.

Then, Houki returned fire, a bright crimson bolt streaking bast Ichika's helmet, narrowly missing the Infinite Arsenal's shield envelope. The second shot, which came less than a second later, had better luck, slamming directly into the suit's pilot compartment. Ichika suppressed the resulting panic spike with practiced ease, remembering Yukari's lessons all those years ago. It was natural to feel a spike of fear when a lethal shot was stopped by an invisible barrier less than an inch from one's heart, but when the IS one was piloting relied on empathic interfaces for much of its control input, that spike of fear often resulted in a temporary loss of control. Even with his training, he felt his control over the Infinite Arsenal falter for a brief moment, but that moment quickly passed. A quick glance at his shields showed that he had enough left to take two more hits like that before going down. Good enough.

Before Houki could fire again, he was already pulling the trigger, sending another barrage of burst missiles at his childhood friend. Theresa cursed as the sky lit up again.

"Damn, I was hoping the missiles would distract her enough for me to land a hit!" She exclaimed as Akatsubaki emerged from the explosion field.

"Ichika, I think I've found something!" Ori spoke up as Ichika feinted left before rolling right, just barely dodging another pair of plasma bolts.

"What is it?" Ichika replied.

"Every time you fire, Akatsubaki moves to a certain point on the missile spread grid. It seems that Houki knows that she can't dodge the missiles, but the MIRAI system is good enough that she can predict where they will hurt her the least." Ori explained.

"Then what do I do?" Ichika asked.

"Fire off your current missiles. I'll alter the timers on the next set." Ori answered.

"Alright. Firing!" Ichika exclaimed, releasing another barrage of burst missiles. Once again, Houki emerged from the explosion field, her shield glowing around her, but otherwise unscathed.

"Loading altered shot... LEFT!" Ori shouted, and Ichika immediately rolled left, just barely avoiding another plasma burst.

"Under attack! It's one of Kanzashi's!" Rei exclaimed.

"Got her." Theresa replied.

"Altered shot loaded. Weapon temperature nominal. Fire when ready!" Ori shouted. Ichika replied by pulling the trigger. Once again, the sky was saturated with explosions, although this time Ichika could see that they were clustered in a different pattern than before, with more explosions centered around Akatsubaki.

"I think we got her!" Ori exclaimed. A moment later, Ichika's visor lightened, and he too saw the crimson IS falling out of the sky. This time, it did not recover.

"Akatsubaki is down." Ichika reported, drawing cheers from his remaining squadmates.

"Just two squadrons left." Rei noted. As she spoke, Ichika searched his surroundings, trying to spot the remaining enemy IS suits. He quickly saw the Schwarzer Regen, as well as two of Laura's squadmates, but no trace of Kanzashi's squadron remained.

"Hmm, might just be one. I can't see Kanzashi's squadron anywhere. What about you, Theresa?" Ichika replied.

"It's just Laura. Looks like they're forming up together." Theresa replied.

"There's three of us and three of them, and they're low on ammo." Ichika mused.

"So am I. Unlike Theresa, my guns don't recharge themselves." Rei commented.

"Speaking of recharging, how are your batteries? Will they last?" Ichika asked.

"I've been pushing my suit pretty hard. I'll need a recharge." Rei replied.

"Same here. I've got about twenty minutes of flight time left." Theresa added.

"Alright. I'm heading up to you, Theresa. Rei, follow me. We'll recharge and resupply, then engage Laura." Ichika ordered, before starting his climb up to Theresa's position.

"Looks like Laura's got the same idea. She's just plugged one of her partners in." Theresa reported.

"Do you have a shot?" Ichika asked.

"Yeah. Should I take it?" Theresa asked.

"Do it." Ichika ordered.

"Hit... I think..." Theresa said a moment later.

"What do you mean, you think?" Ichika asked as he drew level with her. As he did so, a panel on the back of his IS opened up, revealing a wound up cable. They were standard additions to TIS suits of the second generation and up, designed to take advantage of the limitless power of the IS Core to recharge battery-powered MPIS suits while in flight.

"I saw the enemy suit flash, but it wasn't as bright as it should have been." Theresa replied as Rei flew up behind him, grabbing the cord and opening a panel on her own suit so that she could start recharging her own suit.

"M-Maybe your weapon is damaged?" Rei asked.

"I don't think it is. It's been working pretty well so far." Theresa replied.

"It might just be the range. You haven't engaged targets this far away before, right?" Rei asked.

"I guess not." Theresa answered.

"Alright, enough. Keep firing, Theresa. I'll try and recharge you wirelessly to save time. Can your suit handle that?" Ichika asked.

"I don't see why not." Theresa replied.

"Alright, let's hope this does not backfire." Ichika said, before ordering Ori to target Theresa's Blank Slate for wireless power transfer. Fortunately, Blank Slates were equipped with wireless receivers, which, while not as efficient as a superconductor cable, were enough to get the job done. Every few seconds, Theresa would take another shot, reporting a hit every time, while Ichika passed spare ammunition from his suit's IS-space to Rei.

"How strong can their shields be?" She growled after yet another shot.

"Maybe your weapon is damaged after all. It should be able to perform well even at ranges in excess of twenty kilometers." Ichika replied, frowning.

"Maybe... Wait, Laura's disconnecting... What the hell?!" Theresa exclaimed.

"What's going on?" Ichika demanded as Rei disconnected behind him.

"Laura's squadmates just disappeared! I can't see them!" Theresa reported.

"They must be testing some kind of stealth tech then. When they open fire, try to track their shots to their source. Rei, stay on me. Theresa, engage Laura. Your gun should be able to bypass her AIC. Rei, stay with me. We're going to screen Theresa." Ichika ordered.

"R-Roger!" Rei answered, her stutter making itself known once more.

"Got it." Theresa said, before drawing a bead on Laura and opening fire. The Schwarzer Regen flashed white in response, before Laura threw her IS into a series of evasive maneuvers, just barely avoiding Theresa's next few shots.

"Don't think I'm going to make this easy for you, Ichika. I expect my bride to be an expert combatant and leader." Laura's voice sounded out in his ears as she spoke over an open channel.

"You're still going on about that?" Ichika asked, weaving up and down to avoid incoming railgun shots. The first few missed, but as he came closer his shields began to spark from successful hits. Ichika switched over to his laser rifle, knowing that Laura's AIC would protect her from the rest of his arsenal, up to and including his newest weapon. Lining up his shot, he watched Laura's shields flash as the laser beam connected, but even before he had pulled the trigger Laura was on the move, and she quickly slid out of the laser beam.

"What the... Taking fire! Taking fire! Six and five o'clock, high!" Theresa suddenly exclaimed.

"I see them!" Rei replied as Ichika tried to track Laura with his laser rifle.

"Theresa, dive away. You'll be torn apart in close quarters. Rei, keep them busy while Theresa retreats to a safe distance." Ichika ordered.

"I'm trying, but it's like my bullets are going right through them! I think I'm shooting decoys!" Rei shouted as Laura charged forward, attempting to trap him in her AIC.

"Try to trace their fire to its source!" Ichika shouted out as he cut his suit's PIC and executed a high-G horizontal turn, accelerating out of the danger zone a moment before the shimmering field of Laura's AIC came into being. Laura ran into his laser a second later, as she tried to follow him through the maneuver.

"They're not using tracers or plasma. I can't follow them back to their source. All I know is their general direction!" Theresa replied.

"Wait, Theresa, go into that cloud for a second, I want to check something." Rei spoke up.

"Got it." Theresa replied as Ichika dodged a pair of wire guided daggers.

"Your decoys are projected from a holographic array on your IS, right?" Rei asked.

"Yeah, what about... Oh! I see!" Theresa exclaimed.

"The particles that make up the cloud should reflect enough projected light for us to trace a hologram to its source. I'm diving in now, and hopefully they will follow." Rei replied.

"Roger. Should I keep my decoys up?" Theresa asked.

"No. If you can, flicker them a bit before turning them off to fake an error in the system. That should keep them from getting suspicious." Rei ordered.

"Roger, will do!" Theresa replied.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke, allowing Ichika to focus fully on his fight with Laura. At the moment, they were exchanging fire, with Laura trying to close in on him while he retreated, careful to keep out of AIC range. Squadrons of drones shimmered into being around the Infinite Arsenal, adding to the volume of fire aimed at Laura, although one by one the drones went up in smoke, courtesy of Laura's aiming skills.

"I see her! I see the trail! Firing!" Rei exclaimed, her transmission punctuated by gunfire.

"I see her too. Firing!" Theresa shouted out a moment later.

"Hit! We got her!" Theresa whooped.

"Theresa, whatever you did, it momentarily disrupted her cloak. One more shot like that and we should be able to nail her for good." Rei ordered.

"Roger, I just need to spot her again."

"I see her, follow my tracers."

"I see them. Firing!"

"Direct hit! She's visible!" Rei exclaimed as she emptied her magazines into her opponent.

"She's going down!" Theresa whooped a moment later.

"One down, one to go." Rei said.

As if in response, Laura suddenly broke away, accelerating upwards, and Ichika realized that she was heading towards her remaining squadmate.

"Watch out, Laura's trying to link up with her teammate. I'll try to stop her, but be ready just in case." Ichika said.

"Got it. We'll try to deal with her other squadmate as fast as possible." Theresa said.

"That might be hard. She's staying out of the cloud." Rei muttered.

"Don't worry, I have a plan. It will render my weapon inoperable though, so you'll have to do the shooting on your own." Theresa replied.

"Alright, what's the plan?" Rei asked as Laura just barely avoided Ichika's laser beam.

"I'll use my main gun's charging drones to try and intercept the projector beam. They absorb sunlight well enough, so they should be able to absorb the projected light as well. When the hologram disappears, it means that I've found the beam. Do you have my drone position data?" Theresa asked.

"Yes, I do." Rei replied.

"Alright. Unfortunately, maneuvering my drones like I'm about to will prevent them from transmitting power to my gun, so I'll be counting on you. I'm starting maneuvers now." Theresa ordered.

"Roger." Rei answered.

As the two of them planned, Ichika had been steadily catching up to Laura, his suit's stronger engines allowing him to quickly close the distance. Suddenly, Laura reversed direction, quickly closing in, and Ichika realized his mistake.

"Got you!" Laura exclaimed as her AIC field came into being around the Infinite Arsenal.

"Ori, drones, now!" Ichika replied, and one hundred drones shimmered into being around him. Some were caught in the AIC field, while others were far enough away to maneuver freely, and they did just that. Laura was immediately forced to divert her attention to the drones, and while the inertia cancelling field remained in place her railgun was pointed elsewhere, meaning that Ichika was safe for the moment.

"Drone two has got something! I'm projecting a hologram between it and the target, fire along that line!" Theresa ordered.

"Got it, firing!" Rei replied.

"I'll march holograms down your firing line. If the holograms start shifting, it means the enemy IS is repositioning. I'll try to keep track of it as best as I can." Theresa added.

"Got it." Rei replied as she opened fire. After a few seconds, Theresa cheered.

"You got a hit! Marking target with a hologram... Wait... FIRE! FIRE NOW! SHE'S VISIBLE!"

"Firing!" Rei replied.

"She's trying to evade, but she's visible so long as I can keep my projector on target." Theresa muttered.

"I've got her, don't worry." Rei said.

"Missiles! She's firing everything she's got at me!" Theresa exclaimed.

"Don't worry... YES!" Rei shouted.

"Holy... That was awesome!" Theresa gasped. Rei did not reply for a few seconds.

"Alright, she's going down. I think she was too shocked to evade." The normally quiet girl finally said.

"That just leaves Laura. Ichika, need any help?" Theresa asked.

"I've tied her down for now, but I can't move. She should be an easy target." Ichika replied.

"Alright, providing fire support now." Theresa answered, and a few seconds later the Schwarzer Regen flashed white. Immediately, the AIC field around Ichika dropped as Laura began attempting evasive maneuvers, but that allowed Ichika to bring his laser rifle to bear once more. It was not long before Laura was taken out by combined fire from Ichika and Theresa.

"Whew! That was a lot harder than I anticipated." Rei sighed, pulling up alongside the Infinite Arsenal.

"Yo buddy, you still alive?" Theresa asked as she pulled up on his other side.

"Just barely. Laura was a tough opponent." Ichika replied. Indeed, a quick glance at his shield levels had shown that they had dropped below twenty points. One more hit from Laura's railgun and he would have been finished.

"Yeah, her squadmates weren't half bad either. If it wasn't for Rei-chan here, we would have been torn apart." Theresa said, causing Rei to momentarily cut speed as she blushed.

"W-Well, you figured out how to take o-out the second one." Rei murmured.

"I got lucky. It's not like I knew beforehand that their stealth tech was screwed up by someone projecting a hologram on it." Theresa replied.

"Still, you found it out, meaning we can use it to our advantage in later matches." Ichika said.

"Ha! We probably won't need it thanks to that overpowered cannon you and Rei designed. That thing alone seemed to be responsible for half our squadron's kills." Theresa commented.

"Nah, it was only so effective because nobody expected it. Even then, Charlotte already was able to counter it with her impulse flares. I guarantee you that everyone paying attention to this match will have similar flares mounted on their IS suits by the time the tournament rolls around... Which is something we should do as well. I've noticed a lot of our enemies used missiles, and we need a tried and tested countermeasure that doesn't involve shooting them out of the sky. Rei got lucky and was able to do it, but I'd rather not rely on luck." Ichika explained.

"Yeah... I guess that makes sense." Theresa sighed.

"So, shall we head back? I'm sure everyone else is waiting for us." Ichika asked.

"Yeah, that sounds good. We wouldn't want to keep Ayane-san and Sakura-san waiting." Rei said.

"Alright, but since we won, we've got to return with style. Let's make a nice low-altitude pass over the landing platform at high speed, followed by a few loops and then a simultaneous landing, all in tight formation. Oh, and trailing colored smoke! That's always cool!" Theresa said, speaking rapidly.

"I don't think our IS suits are equipped with aerobatic smoke canisters..." Rei replied.

"Oh well, we can still do the rest of it! What do you say Ichika, can we? Please?" Theresa begged. Ichika waited for a moment, before smiling beneath his helmet.

"Sure. Why not?" Theresa cheered at that, and Rei cracked a small smile as they formed a tight arrowhead formation and made their way back to IS Academy.

* * *

 **A/N: My sincerest apologies for not having this done. I ended up finishing it about halfway by the end of January, and then leaving it be due to a high RL workload (and a large amount of Warframe) for over a month before finally finishing it yesterday.**

 **To be quite honest, I do not think I can do another battle like this. It's not that there were too many IS suits as there were too many sides, and I wanted to show them all off to some degree. This meant that Ichika received a somewhat larger than expected amount of combat time, and I don't particularly like that. Even if he is the protagonist, it felt to me like I ended up having his squadron singlehandedly defeat pretty much all the opposition with some assistance from the others.**

 **Thus, I will probably have a maximum of 4-5 sides to every squadron battle from now on, to avoid further issues like this.**

 **Now on to better news. Firstly, I would like to offer a much belated congratulations to Warmach1ne32's IS squadron submission, which has been finalized and entered into the pool that I will draw from in the event of me needing an all-OC squadron.**

 **Secondly, now that the large battle is done with and the squadron system has received enough introduction, I can get the plot rolling again.**

 **Speaking of squadrons, it looks like Rei has gotten her fair share of the screentime that was ultimately denied to her in the previous chapter. I tried to portray her as socially awkward and generally shy, only losing that shyness when she's either doing something she likes or is too preoccupied with something else like combat. Have I managed to get that across successfully in the story? The last thing I want to do is to reduce her to a background character because I am unable to adequately write her.**

 **I will probably post squadron specifications on The Declassified Files when I have time. It won't just be a small tech update, and may very well require an entirely new chapter to be added to it comprised of IS Academy squadrons. Either that or I will split the squadrons up according to nation/organization of origin, and mix them in indigenous tech such as American tanks, German MPIS suits, etc. The first option will be faster, relatively speaking, but the second one will do a lot to flesh out the Agent Orimura-verse's military tech past that of the Organization, as well as give some more insight into how the world reacted to the Alaska treaty.**

 **Anyway, now that I've said my piece, I hope you have all enjoyed the story so far, and will continue to enjoy future updates. As always, please notify me if you notice any glaring flaws or inconsistencies and I will do my best to address them.**

 **Until next time!**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Here it is, another chapter of Agent Orimura.**

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

The remaining members of Archer Squadron landed in perfect formation, making very little noise as their suits' feet touched the landing platform. All around them stood their fellow students, some of whom were clapping. Even Chifuyu had a rare smile on her face as she watched her brother's triumphant return.

"Well done, all of you." She said simply, before looking out at the ocean. Ichika followed her gaze as he dismounted, and quickly spotted Laura's squadron quickly approaching. The three girls touched down with little fanfare, before quickly kneeling their suits down and dismounting, while Laura stowed the Schwarzer Regen away.

"Good match, Ichika, as expected. I would also like to thank you on behalf of Germany for exposing a critical flaw in the Huckebein's stealth system." Laura spoke up once her IS had faded away.

"Huckebein? Is that what they are called?" Ichika asked, as Sakura walked over to one of the black IS suits, which even now shimmered slightly in the sunlight. She laid her hand on it, only to immediately pull it back, gasping in shock.

"This... This is cham-weave!" She exclaimed. Tatenashi walked up beside her, giving the Huckebein a poke.

"Hmm, and it's the good kind, not the crappy Chinese knock-off that costs millions on the black market." The student council president mused.

"Hey! What's wrong with Chinese engineering?" Rin demanded.

"You make too much stuff without any regard to quality. Compare that to fine German engineering and the difference is obvious." Laura replied.

"At least when we say mass produce, we mean it. What is that Huckebein thing anyway, some kind of one-off prototype?" Rin asked.

"Hardly. It's the world's first third-generation MPIS suit, and it is slated to start mass production next month. My squadron received conversion kits so that we can serve as demonstrators." Laura answered.

"What about that hologram issue?" Theresa asked.

"It will probably be fixed in the second version. It's likely not a big enough problem to delay production over." Laura replied.

Ichika continued listening to their conversation with one ear, as looked around for Cecilia in the crowd. He found her on one end, surrounded by somewhat subdued squadmates.

"Good fight, Cecilia." He greeted, walking over to them. Cecilia looked up at that.

"I wish I could say the same, Ichika-san, but as you saw, we didn't do so well." She replied.

"Yeah, we were the first squadron to get taken out. Not a good start." One of her squadmates added.

"I... I can't really argue that." Ichika sighed after trying and failing to find a more diplomatic way to respond. For a few seconds, nobody answered, before Cecilia drew herself up and spoke.

"W-Well, I am not so arrogant as to not ask for advice. So, Ichika-san, what did I do wrong?" She asked. However, it was Chifuyu who answered, the black-haired instructor having overheard the question.

"The greatest reason for your loss, Alcott, was your inexperience as a leader. Your representative candidate training doubtlessly focused more on honing your skill as a pilot than your skill as a leader. You still on some level seemed to see the fight as a collection of duels rather than a single battle, and thus as soon as you encountered the enemy you flew off to duel Takahashi, leaving your squadron without its leader." Chifuyu explained.

"I see... What do I do to avoid this in the future, Orimura-sensei?" Cecilia asked.

"Practice. You lost due to inexperience and bad habits, so gain more experience and break those habits." Chifuyu replied.

"But what specifically can I do? My squadron entrusted me with the role of a leader, so what actions can I take to keep that trust?" Cecilia asked.

"Well, I know for a fact that you have plenty of friends who are more than willing to help you gain the experience you need... Unfortunately, I am not the best person to ask if you want more than that. I may be a champion IS pilot, but I earned my fame exclusively in one on one duels. I am the best pilot in the world in that regard, but when it comes to leading others, there are many others who are better than me. I do, however, know that several former officers teaching here are planning to hold a three week team building and leadership training course some time after the school festival. While I am not personally participating, I can vouch for the qualifications of at least one instructor who is." Ichika raised an eyebrow at that.

"I have a feeling I know who that instructor is." He commented.

"Your feeling is correct. Instructor Stukanov is one of the organizers of this event." Chifuyu replied.

"Thank you for your advice, Orimura-sensei. Where do I sign up?" Cecilia asked, determination clear in her voice.

"Talk to one of the instructors involved, Alcott. However, be warned that this exercise will take you out of normal classes for three weeks, meaning that you will have to make up any assignments you may end up missing as a result. Make arrangements with your other teachers ahead of time, all of you." Chifuyu answered, addressing Cecilia's squadron.

"I will be signing up for this as well." Ichika announced.

"So will I, and I'm sure that the rest of us will as well." Houki added, walking up to them.

"Ah, Houki-chan! How is your squadron finding the upgrades I've installed?" Ichika asked, turning to face his childhood friend.

"Well, they love what you did with their suits, although Kokone-san claims that her thrust control still seems a little sticky. Aside from that, no major issues have been reported." Houki replied, smiling.

"What about the weapons? I trust that they didn't give you any trouble?"

"Well, they love what you did with their Naginatas. I mean, I know you quickly replaced them after the first one caught fire during the activation tests, but this is the first time they were able to use them with the vibrational enhancement active."

"Glad to hear it. What about the rifle?" At that, Houki frowned.

"About that... I don't think it's a particularly good weapon. You tried to make it capable of so much that it lost its ability to perform in any of its intended roles." She replied.

"What are the issues, specifically?" Ichika asked.

"For starters, shotgun mode is almost completely useless, and the alterations we have to make to the ammunition to make it work interfere too much with the automatic and sniper modes. Sniper mode, on the other hand, is clearly outranged by fully automatic weapons used by some of my opponents, and does not do enough damage to compensate for this. Automatic mode is even worse, as the inaccuracy of the gun makes it difficult to hit anything out past two kilometers. I'm not particularly surprised that my squadron didn't make much use of it." Houki answered.

"I see. I will definitely have to take a look at it." Ichika began, but Houki held up a hand before he could continue.

"Actually, if you don't mind, I would like to try and fix it first. I know I'm not all that good at that sort of thing, but... well... I don't want to take up any more of your time with my squadron's issues." She said.

"Alright. Just please, remember the rules of weapon testing. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt." Ichika replied.

"Number one, stand clear and behind a shield. Number two, unmanned tests first. Number three..." Houki recited, and Ichika laughed.

"No need to recite them all. Just keep them in mind, and you will be fine. Just please, if you need help, don't hesitate to ask me." He interrupted.

"Don't worry, Ichika. I will." Houki answered, before turning back to her squadron.

"Hey Ichika! Congratulations on your win!" Charlotte exclaimed a moment later as she approached him, a bright smile on her face.

"Thanks Charlotte, you didn't do all that bad yourself." Ichika replied, smiling back.

"You know, for a moment I thought Lorie had got you with her exploding smokescreen trick." Charlotte said, leaning against a nearby railing.

"She almost did. If a few of you had turned around and confirmed the kill then I would have been out of the match." Ichika answered.

"I'll try to remember that for next time. Also, while we're on the subject of explosions, where did you get that giant cannon of yours? Did you make it, or..." Charlotte trailed off.

"I made it, of course, with Hayate-san's help. Granted, your flares worked pretty well in fooling it. I'm willing to bet a fair bit that by the time the next tournament rolls around, half of IS Academy will have impulse flares on their suits." Ichika replied.

"I'm honestly surprised I'm the only one in this whole match that had them. You would think that, when most squadrons are carrying so many missiles, everyone would have some sort of countermeasure." Charlotte mused.

"My squadron had them too, although we burned through them all fighting Kanzashi." Laura said as she walked up to them, taking up a spot beside Charlotte on the railing.

"Not like it did us much good. They just all switched to manual." One of Laura's squadmates, who had followed her leader rather than join the rest of her squadmates in restarting their card game from earlier, commented in heavily accented Japanese.

"That's not entirely true. Forcing them to manually guide their missiles made them too busy to shoot back at us with other weaponry, and it's very difficult to take evasive action while steering a missile. It made taking them out very easy." Laura replied.

"I suppose that's true. Anyway, Orimura-san, it was fun fighting you. Next time, we won't let something like a cloud get in our way!" Her squadmate replied, before casting a look in the direction of the card game. Laura smiled slightly at the sight, and gestured for her to go on ahead.

"Your squadron must definitely have improved since you first met them. I can't see you allowing them to have any fun otherwise!" Charlotte commented as the girl ran off..

"Oh yes, they've gotten better. I'd be pretty worried if they didn't, considering what I put them through. Karen in particular improved a lot, although I haven't quite gotten rid of her impulsiveness." Laura answered, gesturing to where the girl in question was being dealt a hand.

"It must have been fun." Ichika commented.

"Oh it was..." Laura trailed off, before looking at the ongoing card game.

"Oh? Do you want to join in?" Charlotte asked, following her gaze.

"W-Well, sure! Why not?" Laura replied.

"What about you, Ichika? There might be room for all three of us there." Charlotte asked.

"Thank you, but I'm afraid I still have to debrief with my own squadron. Maybe later." Ichika replied.

"Alright! Sounds good!" Charlotte said, before walking off in the direction of the game, pulling Laura behind her. Ichika watched them leave for a moment, before he too began to move through the crowd, looking for the rest of his squadron.

"Hey, Orimura-san!" An unfamiliar voice drew his attention, and he looked around to see a short, black haired girl walking up to him, waving a USB drive in her hand.

"On behalf of the film and animation clubs, I would like to thank you for letting us watch you set an IS Academy record." The girl continued, bowing slightly.

"You're welcome-" Ichika began, but the girl had already left, heading off to meet with Sakura. After a moment, Ichika shrugged and looked away, just as Theresa ran up to him.

"Hey, Ichika... I was wondering..." She began, clearly unsure of how to continue.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Well... I was just thinking... I think I might know of a way for us to make some money." The sniper said.

"What do you mean? We don't really need much in the way of money, since our corporate sponsors send us the equipment we need." Ichika replied.

"Ah, no, not like that. I meant money for ourselves! I mean, it's always nice to have some cash available, and tuition doesn't exactly pay for itself." Theresa answered.

"Alright, what is it?" Ichika asked.

"Well, I noticed what the film and animation clubs were doing, and I got an idea from there... What if we livestreamed our matches? I mean, it wouldn't be the first time someone's made money doing it. People love IS matches, and-" Ichika held his hand up to stop her.

"I'm afraid that would not be possible. Do you remember the non-disclosure agreement you signed when we received the upgrade packages from WSI?" Ichika asked.

"Wait, non-disclosure agreement? What do you mean?" Theresa interjected.

"It was one of the documents you had to sign when we received the new tech... You did read them, right?" Ichika asked, and the sheepish expression on Theresa's face answered his question for him.

"Well... Not really, but it's not like anyone does! I-I mean, there were, like, thirty pages of fine print! They couldn't possibly expect me to read all that!" She exclaimed.

"Why not? I read it just fine." Ayane spoke up as she approached them.

"You-What do you mean?" Theresa whirled around to face her squadmate.

"I mean that you'd have to be an idiot to not read something you're about to sign. If you had, you'd know that, until WSI gives us the all-clear, we are not allowed to publicly reveal any information regarding WSI technology. They specifically mentioned livestreaming as being prohibited due to it being classed as a high-risk exposure action. Apparently, rival companies watch IS livestreams to try and gain an edge over their competition, and WSI doesn't want to give them that edge." Ayane explained.

"What? But that's censorship! I can sue for that!" Theresa exclaimed.

"You could have sued, if you hadn't signed a non-disclosure agreement." Ayane replied.

"But what about the film and animation clubs? They're collaborating to make a documentary about this battle!"

"They're doing what?" Ichika exclaimed.

"They're making a documentary about this battle! Sakura already gave them her gun camera footage, and... And so did I..." Theresa trailed off, her eyes widening.

"You idiot! Now we're all going to pay for this!" Ayane shouted.

"I'll see what I can do." Ichika quickly said, before looking around for the girl who had greeted him barely a minute earlier. He spotted her arguing with Cecilia and Rin, and he had a feeling that he already knew what that argument was about. He quickly made his way over to them, and soon his hearing confirmed his suspicions.

"You are asking for Alcott Foundation data which has not been cleared for release to the public at this time. I am not authorized to give it to you." Cecilia said as he approached.

"What do you mean, you're not authorized? You own the Alcott Foundation!" The film club representative demanded.

"Yes, and I have not granted myself authorization to give you anything." Cecilia replied.

"What about you, Ling-san? I'm sure that the Chinese government can part with some of this information!" The girl turned to Rin, who stood still for a moment before breaking down laughing. Cecilia joined her on the ground a moment later, laughing at the top of her lungs. Even Ichika couldn't stifle the laugh that came when he heard those words.

"Right... Forget I asked." The film club representative huffed and turned away, only to come face to face with Ichika, who quickly composed himself.

"I believe you have something you shouldn't, namely classified WSI IS test data. Would you please hand it over?" Ichika asked, holding out his hand.

"What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about!" The girl exclaimed, outraged.

"The gun camera footage you got from my squad-mates. It is not cleared for public release just yet, so I will once again ask that you hand it over." Ichika replied.

"What footage? I don't have any footage!" The girl shouted, hiding the USB drive behind her back.

"Look, I know you tricked Sakura and Theresa into giving you the data. Hiding the drive will not change anything." Ichika replied, frustration creeping into his voice.

"Now see here, I paid for that footage! You can't just-" Ichika sighed, and with a flash of light, a plasma katar appeared in his hand. Without its mounting, the IS weapon was practically unrecognizable.

"You see this? This is an IS-grade Type-33 CGEP Quantum EMP Singularity Pulsar device. Against a store-grade, unhardened flash drive like that, it will cause one hundred percent total data dumpage and systemic destruction, with recovery chances being measured in the one-ten-thousandth percentile. No amount of technical expertise will get any of the data on that drive back after I initiate the EM Nanowave Pulse Reaction. Now, you can hand over the drive so that I can remove all classified data from it, or I can set this device off and permanently wipe everything on it. Your choice." Ichika bluffed, speaking in the most annoyed tone he could muster. The girl in front of him blinked, before growling and handing the drive over.

"Thank you." Ichika finished, smiling as he took the drive and walked over to a nearby computer terminal. Less than a minute later, he had already deleted the offending files and handed the now-clean drive back to its owner, who stormed off in the direction of IS Academy.

"I-I can't believe she fell for that." Rei's amazed voice drew his attention.

"Never underestimate the power of big words over the uninformed." Ichika replied, smiling.

"O-Oh, and before you ask, I read the a-agreement." Rei pre-empted his question.

"Good, that means only two of our squadron have to be punished... Any ideas? I'm personally thinking of making them write out the agreement they signed in its entirety." Ichika answered.

"All thirty-two pages? That seems a bit harsh." Rei commented.

"An aching hand is nothing compared to what would have happened if that footage reached the wrong eyes. Rival corporations aren't the only groups that watch those sorts of things, searching for weaknesses." Ichika replied.

"What do you mean?" Rei asked.

"We live in a world where it's harder to get clean water than it is to get access to the internet. We all know just how bad the situation is in some parts of the world, and all it takes is one careless upload or stream for an unsavory individual in those parts of the world to see the footage. That individual runs off and relays the information to his superiors, who relay it to a group of engineers in their employ. The next thing you know, an entire line of MPIS suits has been countered before it is ever deployed in combat. At that point, wasted resources is the best possible outcome." Ichika answered.

"But the Alaska Treaty-"

"The Alaska Treaty is a document, and a piece of paper is nothing when the signatories aren't bothering to enforce it. Look at Russia, for example. All sides involved that have them are throwing IS suits at each other and the rest of the world hasn't even bothered to claim that it's working on an intervention." Ichika sighed.

"But... Then what does all of this mean?" Rei asked, gesturing back towards IS Academy.

"The truth of the matter is that IS Academy is an elaborate, multi-million dollar showpiece meant to distract the world." Ichika replied.

"Distract it from what?" Rei asked.

"We're getting off topic. The point is that the WSI NDA was put in for a reason, and that reason was much greater than a simple desire to keep rival companies in the dark. I want to impress that on to all of you." Ichika said, changing the subject.

"Now Ichika, don't go scaring your squadmates like that! It's not very nice." Tatenashi interrupted, walking up to him.

"How long have you been listening?" Ichika asked her.

"Since you scared away Isabella-san with your magical EMP. Speaking of which, really Ichika? You know you didn't have to do anything like that, not when you're so close to the student council president. I already had plans to suppress the video." Tatenashi replied.

"Please, Tatenashi, let's not go talking about how corrupt the student administration is here, or at least, not in public." Ichika said, an amused smile on his face.

"Oh? So you don't want your classmates to know that you practically have me in your pocket?" Tatenashi asked, smirking.

"Um... H-How well do y-you two know each o-other?" Rei asked.

"Really well! We share a room for a reason, after all!" Tatenashi replied.

"Said reason being that the Academy administration is dragging its feet when it comes to repairing my original room." Ichika sighed as Rei blushed.

"W-Wait, what do you mean, repairing?" Rei asked.

"His wall got blown out by circumstances beyond his control. In fact..." Tatenashi paused and stood up on tip-toe, looking back at the IS Academy living complex.

"You see that hole over there? That's where Ichika used to live." She continued a moment later, and Rei followed her pointing finger.

"Was that a bird that just flew out of there?" She asked a moment later.

"Looks like it." Tatenashi replied.

"Have they even done anything?" Ichika asked.

"Doesn't look like it." Tatenashi answered, as Ichika watched the aforementioned bird fly back inside.

"But that's enough about your room! Ichika, do you realize what you did to my IS? It's going to take ages to replenish my nanobot supply!" Tatenashi scolded.

"Your fault for trying to catch missiles with them. Water transmits blast waves better than air, after all." Ichika replied.

"Still, it will be a few days before I'm back to normal operating capacity. What if a surprise tournament happens? I'll drop to the bottom of the leaderboards, and be the laughingstock of the school!" Tatenashi moaned.

"Oh quit whining. We both know that even without your water manipulation you're one of the best IS pilots in this academy." Ichika replied.

"Mou, you're so mean, Ichika-kun!" Tatenashi whined.

"There you are! Don't disappear like that!" Kanzashi ran over to them before Ichika could reply. He opened his mouth to greet her, but a shout from the edge of the platform caused him to pause. He looked towards the source just in time to see a white IS scream by overhead, followed moments later by a deafening 'CRACK!' as it showed off its supersonic capability. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kanzashi stiffen, and a quick glance in her direction allowed him to see her tightly clenched fists and furious expression.

The supersonic IS quickly looped around and came in for a landing, decelerating rapidly and touching down on the crowded platform with minimal fuss, twirling as it did so as the pilot showed off her control of the suit. Now that he had a closer look, Ichika quickly recognized the IS in question.

"That's the Byakushiki, isn't it?" He asked, turning to Kanzashi.

"Yes. It is." She muttered, before she started to make her way towards it, weaving her way through the stunned crowd. However, Chifuyu beat her to the mark, and moments after the Byakushiki's pilot had stowed her suit away, the stern teacher's hand clamped down on her shoulder.

"Just what do you think you are doing?" Chifuyu demanded as the startled pilot spun around.

"O-Orimura-sama! I-I'm so sorry! I... I didn't know-" The pilot began, only for Chifuyu to cut her off.

"Save me your apologies. What were you thinking?" She shouted, as the crowd formed a ring around them.

"I-"

"Thanks to your antics, tens of millions of yen of sensitive equipment in the engineering complex could have been irreparably damaged, not to mention how many possible broken windows and damaged hologram projectors you may have just been responsible for!" As if to underscore her point one of the holographic beacons near the edge of the platform, which had been flickering since the supersonic pass, died in a spectacular flash of light.

"I didn't think-"

"No, evidently you did not. Otherwise, you would have taken the monorail and been admitted like everyone else. However, you did not think, and thus you have both violated restricted airspace and caused an as of yet unknown amount of property damage. I suppose congratulations are in order, however, as despite the fact that there were two supersonic-capable IS suits already present at this academy before you, you have managed to set the precedent for sonic boom-related damage. Evidently, an airspeed restriction will have to be put into place over IS Academy." Chifuyu continued to scold the unfortunate girl, who was clearly close to tears.

"However, this is neither the time nor the place to continue this discussion. Report to my office in one hour. I will have determined your punishment by then." She finished, letting go of the girl's shoulder and strode away, leaving the shell-shocked Byakushiki's pilot behind.

Once Chifuyu left the platform, the whispers began, as everyone on the platform began to form and discuss their opinions on the new student in their midst. However, the crowd quieted down as Kanzashi made her presence known, walking out of the crowd until she stood in front of the other girl.

"Were you really the one they chose to pilot the Byakushiki?" She asked, her voice providing no clue as to her emotions.

"Y-Yes... I'm Shirone Isumi, representative of Kuromochi Machinery Development." The Byakushiki's pilot introduced herself.

"So you were the one they chose over me." Kanzashi continued.

"Wha- B-But then that means-"

"You disappoint me. I expected more out of someone in your position." Kanzashi added, causing the other girl to look down at the ground.

"I... I'm..."

"You will likely be moved into a squadron some time in the next few days. If KMD has done anything at all to prepare for the squadron system, you will receive upgrade packages shortly afterwards. Once they arrive and are installed, I am giving you a week to practice. I challenge you to a duel after that week is over. Do you accept?" Kanzashi asked. At that, Isumi looked up, meeting her gaze.

"I do. I accept." She answered.

"Good. I will see what you're made of then. Now, I believe that if you hurry, you can make it to the monorail station and check on your belongings before you have to head to Orimura-sensei's office. I would recommend using your IS to fly there, but given your recent behavior, I'm not sure if that will be a smart decision." Kanzashi suggested.

"I... Thank you, Sarashiki-san." Isumi replied before she headed off. As she departed, Tatenashi approached her sister.

"Wow, Kanzashi-chan, I haven't seen you so angry in months!" She exclaimed, wrapping an arm around her sibling.

"I'm not angry!" Kanzashi denied.

"Oh? Then what are you?" Tatenashi asked.

"I... I'm just upset. Was she really the one KMD picked over me? I expected them to at least find someone good, not some show-off who thinks buzzing a high-tech facility at supersonic speeds is a good idea." Kanzashi sighed.

"Hmm... Is my little sister jealous? I thought you had gotten over the Byakushiki!" Tatenashi gasped.

"Of course I'm not jealous! I would never trade my precious Niishiki-chan for an overengineered, overpriced boondoggle like the Byakushiki!" Kanzashi exclaimed, causing her sister to giggle.

Already, the crowd was starting to drift apart as the girls went their separate ways. The card game, having been completely disrupted by the sonic boom, had ended, and its players were leaving, some of them holding various small items that they had clearly won. Soon, only Ichika and the Sarashiki siblings remained on the platform. Not wanting to intrude on their conversation, Ichika soon left as well.

* * *

Lily Meusel crept through IS Academy, wrapped tightly in a body-glove of Chinese cham-weave. A security camera rotated slowly above her, and while it might be able to detect the slight distortions caused by moving cham-weave in daytime, in the darkness of the hallway she was invisible. Night had fallen, and as far as she knew everyone was asleep, meaning that she was free to commence her part of the operation. Assuming Autumn didn't botch the contact job, they would have their target in custody within twenty four hours, and the next day she would be pulled out of IS Academy by her stereotypical concerned parents.

However, the success of the plan hinged on her ability to do several things. First and foremost, she would have to cut communications between Code Black and her target in a manner that did not arouse suspicion. Secondly, she would have to shut down the IS Academy detection grid in order to prevent advance detection of the extraction force. Fortunately for her, IS Academy was very centralized in terms of security. All the most important functions of the academy, communications and detection equipment among them, were controlled from a central security room. It would take a dedicated team of specialists to control both functions under normal conditions, but luckily for her, she had an AI that could do the job just fine. Not for very long, what with there being at least two other AIs on the IS Academy premises, but long enough.

The security room had two guards outside of it, the men leaning against the wall and chatting quietly. Neither spotted her in the darkness of the building, as their flashlights were pointed away from her, while their dim glow revealed to her that neither was equipped with night vision gear. Smiling, she pulled out an oversized pistol and loaded it, checking the magazine for purple markings before inserting it into its slot. While the gun she carried could fire lethal bullets, corpses would draw suspicion and likely cancel the event. Instead, the purple magazine carried a set of non-lethal capsules intended to burst on contact with their target, releasing a combination of memory drug and sedative designed to be absorbed through the skin. A single hit, and the guard would wake up a few hours later, thinking he fell asleep on his shift. Lily had loaded this particular magazine herself, varying the dosage so that her targets would not all wake up around the same time. Some would be sleeping for hours, while others would barely stay asleep for thirty minutes.

Flipping up her sight, Lily took aim and pulled the trigger, the shot accompanied by a faint hiss. Even before the first guard had finished slumping to the ground she fired again, scoring a second hit. Both guards were down and no more were in sight, so Lily moved up to the door. A light tap of the handle told her that it wasn't even locked. Slowly, she lowered the handle before slowly opening the door a crack, its well-oiled hinges making no sound.

There were five technicians and two guards in the room, and taking them all out with a pistol without causing any alarms would be supremely difficult for even the most well-trained assassin. Fortunately for her, she was far more than that. With superhuman speed, she yanked open the door and opened fire. The guards dropped before the door had even finished swinging open. Two of the technicians had barely twitched before they too were taken out. The last three went down shortly afterwards, slumping down in their chairs. Lily smiled at her handiwork as she entered. Her enhancements had ensured that these mere humans had never stood a chance.

"You know your orders, Hal. Carry them out." She ordered her AI.

"Understood, mistress." Came the monotone reply, moments before she plugged him in. Immediately, the AI began altering security camera footage, changing the sedation of the guards and technicians into a natural-looking case of overworked night-shift officers falling asleep on duty. As it did so, Lily went around the room, quickly checking each body and picking up the burst drug capsules with gloved hands. Once she had all seven capsules secured, she exited the room, closed the door, and did the same to the two guards outside. With all evidence removed, she headed back to her dorm, sending off a quick text to Autumn as she did so.

'Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.'

* * *

"Right this way, milady." Ichika smiled, bowing slightly as he gestured for the next customer to follow him. He had known this would happen in advance, but the knowledge didn't make wearing a swallow-tail coat and acting as a butler for the Class 1-1 Maid Cafe any less embarrassing. At least the tailor Cecilia had hired to make the thing was good enough to make it comfortable.

However, he mused as he led another blushing girl to her table, it was better to face these sorts of things with dignity. A few minutes later, he was pouring her a cup of tea, while Charlotte brought out the slice of cake she had ordered. With that out of the way, Ichika headed back to the door, to serve yet another customer. He had no doubt that the cafe idea would break even, especially with such a long line outside. He wondered just how many of them were brought in by his name alone.

The next girl in line was a familiar face in unfamiliar clothes, and it took him a moment to process the fact that Rin, his brash and tomboyish childhood friend, was actually wearing a cheongsam.

"Hey, Mr. Butler, do you mind taking me to my table please?" Rin asked.

"Of course, milady." Ichika replied, staying in character as he bowed and took her hand.

"Also, what's with the dress? Is it for the festival?" He asked quietly once they were away from the rest of the line.

"Oh! Class 1-2 is doing a Chinese cafe. I'm just on break right now... Do you like it?" Rin replied, smiling.

"Of course! I think it goes wonderfully with how you've styled your hair." Ichika said, returning the Chinese girl's smile and causing her cheeks to redden slightly.

"Ah... W-Well, it was nothing much. I always dress up like this for special occasions." Rin explained as Ichika pulled out her chair.

"It looks good on you. As for me, I don't think I've ever worn a suit like this. Cecilia said it looked good, but I'm not so sure. Personally, I think the tails are a little ridiculous." Ichika said as he set out a menu in front of his friend.

"For once, Cecilia was right. It does make you look rather handsome." Rin responded.

"Thank you! Anyway, what would you like to order, Milady?" Ichika asked. Rin hummed for a bit as she read through the menu, before she paused at one particular entry.

"Huh? What's this 'treat for your butler' set all about?" Ichika sighed inwardly at that. He may have shrunk the font and tucked that entry into a tiny corner of the page, but evidently Rin had an eye for detail.

"It-It's just a typo. A copy error." Ichika said rapidly, too rapidly he realized.

"Oh really? Now I'm curious! I think I know what I'm going to order!" Rin exclaimed, and pointed towards the corner where that infernal entry lay.

"Very well, milady." Ichika sighed, and headed off. He returned a minute later with a tray of pocky and a glass of iced tea. Placing it down on the table, he sat down beside Rin and closed his eyes.

"O-Okay..." Rin said after a long, awkward moment had passed. Ichika didn't reply.

"So... Not that I mind but.. Why are you sitting with me?" Rin asked. Ichika didn't reply.

"What is this set all about, anyway?" Rin asked after another stretch of silence.

"The girls in charge of designing the menu thought that it would be romantic to have the customers feed me." Ichika sighed.

"Huh?" Rin deadpanned, confused.

"Basically, you are supposed to feed me pocky." Ichika replied.

"What kind of an entry is that?" Rin demanded.

"My thoughts exactly. You don't have to do it if you don't want to." Ichika said.

"Well, I never said I didn't want to! Say 'ah'!" Rin answered, picking up a pocky stick as she did so.

"Ah..." Ichika said in the most bored manner he could. A few seconds later, he was munching on the sweet. It wasn't anything special, the girls had quite literally just bought a few packs of the stuff, opened them, and re-sold them at ten times the price, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.

"Alright, now it's your turn!" Rin replied, and Ichika picked up his own stick, but before he could move it half way across the table, Houki intervened.

"I'm sorry, but I am afraid that is not part of the entry." The Japanese girl deadpanned, confiscating the pocky stick as she did so.

"W-Wha- Alright, fine." Rin answered, grabbing a second stick for herself and nibbling on it as Houki left the table.

"Sorry about that." Ichika said, smiling sheepishly as Rin finished her sweet.

"Hmph, she was pretty rude about it. A-Anyway, I'm not done with you yet. Say 'Ah!'" The Chinese girl replied, and Ichika sighed, opening his mouth once more.

They kept eating for a while, before Rin finally stood up, dusting a few crumbs off of her dress.

"It was nice dining with you, but I'm afraid my break is almost over. I really should be going." Rin said.

"No worries. I had fun as well. Good luck!" Ichika waved goodbye as his friend left the cafe.

"Excuse me, do you have a minute?" An unfamiliar voice drew his attention. It belonged to a tall, orange-haired woman who was offering him a business card, a friendly smile on her face.

"Of course ah... Makigami Reiko-san." Ichika replied, taking and reading the offered card. In response, the woman sat down across from him.

"So, what is it?" He asked once she had finished sitting down.

"Oh, well, I was just wondering if you would be willing to accept an equipment sponsorship from my company. We are rather new to the IS design field, after all, and we are hoping that maybe having a famous name like yours associated with our technology would really help jump-start our business." That immediately set off alarm bells in Ichika's head. Most companies, when sponsoring a squadron, requested that said squadron sign exclusivity contracts to prevent other companies from potentially inspecting and stealing prototype technology. These exclusivity contracts were far from secret, and indeed were very much made public, and the fact that WSI was an Organization proxy did nothing to change that.

This meant that either Reiko was an idiot, a corporate saboteur, or something else entirely. None of those options was particularly appealing.

"Hmm, I'm not quite sure what you mean. Do you mind describing some of the technology you are offering for me?" Ichika asked, trying to play the part of a potential mark.

"Oh, yes, of course! Our metallurgists believe they have determined a new formula for IS Composite Armor that would allow for the suit to be significantly lighter, without sacrificing damage resistance. We call it Formula 111, and while I cannot share its exact composition, I will have you know it is definitely a game-changer. In keeping with the focus of mobility, we have several auxiliary thruster designs to allow your suit to make more precise evasive maneuvers, fly at higher speeds, or turn significantly faster." Reiko replied, taking his hand and gripping it tightly, painfully so. Ichika's suspicion grew as a spike of pain shot through his hand. That was not how someone who wanted a potential customer shook hands.

"Oh, and before I forget, we believe that IS legs are often under-valued as offensive weapons, and as such are planning to unveil a unique line of leg-mounted IS-grade bladed weapons. I do not believe that this will in any way violate your contract with White-Sakamoto Innovations, so what do you say? Do we have a deal?" Reiko asked.

Any lingering belief of Reiko being a simple corporate saboteur vanished with that sentence. Whoever this Reiko woman was, she had obviously never read the contract between him and WSI. That left the possibility of her being an idiot, or something worse. Given how the woman seemed all too eager to crush his hand, the former option did not seem to be the case. This woman had likely come to IS Academy disguised as a corporate representative specifically to seek him out, and that was not good at all.

"Hmm, that definitely sounds interesting. Anything else?" Ichika asked.

"Well, nothing I cannot talk about in such a public environment. I wonder... Do you mind coming with me? I am more than happy to share this information, but I'm afraid we will have to do so in private." There, she wanted to get him alone. Her justification of sharing classified data did not hold up, given how he had not said yes to her supposed contract.

However, before he could reply, Shizune Takatsuki intervened.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Orimura-kun has other customers to attend to." Ichika breathed a sigh of relief as the black haired girl ushered Reiko out of the cafe.

"Thank you, Takatsuki-san." Ichika said as she returned.

"No problem. It's not the first time I've seen someone like this try to scam students. Let me guess, was she about to offer you some high-tech, cutting-edge equipment in exchange for a temporary down payment to cover shipping?" Shizune asked.

"I'm not sure. Just... If she comes back, keep her out. I can't quite place it, but there was something off about her." Ichika replied, thinking back to how she shook his hand. While a scammer might have made the same mistakes Reiko did when it came to the contract, anyone interested in making money would have had a different handshake.

"Ah... Alright. Say, Orimura-kun, you've been working here all day. Why don't you take a break? You haven't really had a chance to enjoy the festival!" Shizune replied. For a moment, she looked like she wanted to ask something else as well, but evidently decided against it.

"Oh, Takatsuki-san, may I have a break as well?" Cecilia interjected, clearly having overheard the conversation.

"Well... Alcott-san-" Before Shizune could finish her protest, Cecilia leaned in.

"From what I overheard, I think Orimura-kun might be being targeted by a rival company. I believe that my presence might be needed to ensure his security." She whispered, and Shizune paused, before continuing.

"As I was saying, Alcott-san, you have worked very hard so far. Your request for a break is granted. Please be back no later than two-thirty." She finished. Cecilia beamed at that, and proceeded to lead Ichika out of the store. Neither of them spoke until they turned a corner, at which point Cecilia let out a sigh of relief.

"Ah, it's so good to be able to just relax and enjoy ourselves, isn't that right, Ichika-san?" She asked. Ichika frowned at that.

"Cecilia, do you know of any organization that might want to send an infiltrator after me?" He asked in return, and Cecilia pursed her lips.

"You mean that was really more than some random scammer? I thought..." Ichika quirked an eyebrow at that.

"What? So... Did you mean what you told Takatsuki-san, or..." He left the question open.

"Oh, well... About that..." Cecilia smiled and wrung her hands sheepishly.

"You said that just to get a break with me, didn't you?" Ichika finished, and Cecilia nodded. He sighed at that, before continuing.

"Regardless, my point still stands. What organization do you think that Reiko woman belonged to?" He asked.

"Phantom Task? They seem to be the most obvious candidate." Cecilia replied immediately.

"That was my first thought as well, but that woman blew her cover as soon as she opened her mouth. A Phantom Task infiltrator would have at least bothered to read the public version of the exclusivity contract I've signed with WSI before posing as an IS equipment saleswoman. No, Reiko was too incompetent to be Phantom Task." Ichika replied.

"So we have to think incompetent then? Maybe a particularly stupid extremist group?" Cecilia wondered.

"That is a possibility. If that's the case, then all I have to do is steer clear of her and I'll be fine." Ichika replied.

"Speak of the devil... Don't look. She's on our right, distance is about fifteen meters. She hasn't seen us yet." Cecilia whispered, before steering him in the opposite direction, standing right behind him to try and block the woman's vision. Finally, they turned a corner and Cecilia breathed a sigh of relief.

"She didn't notice us. Anyway, let's go find something to do. We might draw attention if we started acting abnormal!" She exclaimed, and Ichika nodded.

"Hey there! The gentleman in the fancy coat! Care to try something?" An English-accented voice drew their attention a few seconds later. Looking towards its source, they saw a red-haired girl waving at them. Cecilia gasped at the sight, then pulled Ichika forward, running into Class 2-3's tea shop.

"Oh? Eager aren't we..." The girl minding the store began, before her eyes widened.

"Oh my! Miss Alcott, I wasn't aware you were here as well! Please, stay as long as you like!" She exclaimed in English, while bustling over to a teapot and quickly pouring out two cups. Once they were full, she passed them over to her new customers.

"Please, enjoy! It's on the house!" She said, smiling.

"Thank you, but what did we do to deserve such generosity?" Ichika asked in his own accented English. The girl merely smiled wider.

"What did you do? Why, you only gave me an IS suit! I've been meaning to thank you ever since I saw the Alcott Foundation logo stamped on my Blank Slate's pauldron, and now I have the chance! I'm Alice, by the way. Alice Whitney." She explained.

"You're welcome! I trust it hasn't been giving you any problems?" Cecilia asked.

"Oh no, none at all. Our sponsor's equipment just arrived, and we worked around the clock yesterday to install it. Our squadron should be tournament ready by the end of the week." Alice replied.

"I'm glad to hear it!" Cecilia exclaimed, before taking a sip of her tea.

"Hmm, this is quite good." She commented a few seconds later.

"Thank you. That particular one is actually a special blend that we made here at IS Academy for this festival, although our supply is rather small thanks to us drinking half of what we made. We were trying to make Earl Grey, but had to use a local substitute for the bergamot." Alice explained as Ichika took a sip of his own tea.

"Well, it was definitely a good substitute." Cecilia replied as she moved to where several boxes of the tea in question were stored.

Ichika listened with half an ear as the two girls continued to talk, grabbing a few choice containers of tea as he did so.

Suddenly, a clatter of falling containers drew his full attention, and he saw Cecilia half-buried under a mass of boxes that she had evidently been trying to carry.

"Are you alright?" The Alice's concerned voice asked a moment later.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine... Ichika-san, do you mind giving me a hand?" Cecilia asked, and Ichika obliged.

"Were you really trying to carry all of these?" He asked as he picked up a few boxes while Cecilia stood back up.

"Yes... I think it may have been a little too much." Cecilia replied.

"Oh, well then, do you mind if I help you with them?" Ichika asked. Cecilia blushed, and nodded.

"Why, thank you!" She exclaimed.

Twenty minutes later, Ichika emerged from the store, a bag stuffed with tea under each arm. Above him floated several drones, weighed down with cargoes ranging from tea to two full sets of china that Cecilia had taken a fancy to. Beside him, Cecilia carried his own purchase, a happy smile on her face.

"That was fun, wasn't it Ichika-san?" She asked as they dropped off their purchases in a back room of the maid cafe for later retrieval.

"Definitely." Ichika replied, smiling as he stowed away his drones. Truthfully, he hadn't really cared much for it, but it was a welcome relief from the embarrassing butler routine.

"Ichika! There you are!" The two of them turned to see Tatenashi walking up to them.

"I've been looking all over for you! Were you trying to get out of our agreement?" The student council president asked.

"Ichika-san? What agreement is this?" Cecilia asked.

"Oh, right, I'd almost forgotten! I was supposed to help you out with that show you were planning, wasn't I?" Ichika said, remembering his promise.

"Yep! It starts in about half an hour, so you should have enough time to change. Your outfit is in the old Arena 1 boys' locker room. You will wait in there until the lights in there go out, at which point you will come out on stage." Tatenashi explained.

"Alright, what do I do after that?" Ichika asked.

"Trust me, you'll know!" Tatenashi replied, winking. Not reassured by this in the slightest, Ichika decided that the only way out was through, and thus headed for the old locker room, while Tatenashi led Cecilia away somewhere else.

* * *

As promised, the lights dimmed half an hour later, and Ichika emerged onto the stage dressed in the rather ridiculous prince outfit that Tatenashi had provided for him. Having no idea what he was doing, his first reaction was to cover his eyes as a spotlight suddenly illuminated him.

"There is a tale about a young girl named Cinderella, who found true love in spite of her hardship and cruel step-family..." Tatenashi narrated, and Ichika blinked. Was this some sort of reverse-Cinderella story?

"However, that story is a lie, a deception, a most ingenious ruse made to protect the identity of the Cinderella Warriors, an order of princesses who have brought down thousands of soldiers in hundreds of balls across the world! They are the world's finest warriors! None can match their ferocity in battle, their deadly aim, or their lust for destruction! Yes, there is no better name than Cinderella for these beautiful maidens who leave naught but cinders in their wake!" The confusion in Ichika's mind turned to dread as Tatenashi continued her narration, while a short animation mixed with various combat noises played in the background.

"Now, you shall all bear witness to the power of the Cinderellas, as they fight over the critical information contained within Prince Charming's crown! Let the night of the bloodthirsty Cinderellas... BEGIN!" Tatenashi cried out as the lights turned on, revealing the elaborate castle that had been set up on the arena floor. Ichika dove for cover just as the first bullets began to fly.

"You will pay for this, Tatenashi! You hear me? You will pay for this!" He shouted as he looked for a weapon of his own, wanting to be prepared for what undoubtedly lay ahead.

* * *

 **A/N: It's finally done! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Originally, I intended to have this chapter stretch all the way through the Cinderella play, but I ultimately decided against it, and will instead use that scene to start off the next chapter. Now, on to the usual comments I have about my writing.**

 **Firstly, the debriefing scene at the start of this chapter was originally intended for the previous one, although it was cut due to length constraints. Without these constraints, I was able to include parts like the whole conversation with Cecilia and Chifuyu (which I enjoyed writing immensely as it shows Chifuyu actually doing her job, something that I have not done much of lately) and the NDA micro-plot. Byakushiki was also introduced right on schedule along with its pilot. While Isumi will not be joining Ichika's harem, I will likely give her an arc of her own at some point.**

 **Also on a quick note, Cham-weave is not an original creation of mine. It is merely my name for that strange invisibility cloth that Tatenashi used in the anime to conceal her cannon-ex-machina in the final episode.**

 **The next big scene was the conversation between Ichika and Autumn/Reiko, and I hope I did a good job with it. Originally I intended to have Ichika recognize Autumn from Pearl Harbor, but the more I thought about it, such an action felt like a cop-out, so I decided to go with this as a result. What I did was both show how Autumn was a poor choice of infiltrator, and how Ichika was able to determine her intentions. My question is: Did my portrayal of Ichika's thought processes during the conversation do a good job of justifying his eventual suspicion of Autumn, or did they seem like a contrivance?**

 **Finally, before I end this chapter, I have a rather lengthy topic I need to discuss due to its immediate relevance to this fic, and that is the Infinite Stratos Light Novels. I have not read these novels, and AFAIK I will never gain access to them. I have, however, gotten access to a summary of said novels, which has allowed me to see just how faithfully (or rather, how unfaithfully) Infinite Stratos Season 2 was adapted from them.**

 **As it turns out, the pointless 'Charlotte's Missing Panties' episode was actually anime-original filler because the writers of IS2 decided to cut out the Cannonball Fast, an IS racing tournament, as well as a Phantom Task attack on Pearl Harbor. Similarly, the 'Cecilia's Bad Cooking' episode was anime-original filler, replacing a set of dates with Houki, one of which contained a meeting between Ichika and Squall. Finally, the whole field-trip arc of the anime was original, as at that point the novels ended.**

 **This has left me with the question of what do I include from the novels, and what I ignore. For example, the Cannonball Fast will not make it in as depicted in the novel, as any IS race would be unfairly biased in favor of the only three supersonic IS suits on campus. Akatsubaki would steamroll it hands-down, and the only challenge would be provided by the Byakushiki and Infinite Arsenal.**

 **As such, I have decided to replace it with a squadron combat tournament, with a twist on it to make it a bit more interesting. Some combination of objective-based attack and defense is my current idea.**

 **That's not to say that everything from the novels will be added, as if what I've heard is correct they are even more rife with pointless fanservice and harem antics than the second season of the anime. For starters, Ran is actually a part of the harem, rather than a minor side-character as she was in the anime.**

 **My plans for what from the novels to include and what to ignore have largely been made, but any input on that front will nonetheless be appreciated.**

 **As always, I hope you all continue to enjoy this story.**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Here it is, the second part of the School Festival arc. I'm sure you've all been looking forward to it, and I hope you all forgive me for taking so long in getting this out.**

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

Ichika had never imagined his day turning out like this, as he hunkered down behind a conveniently waist-high wall while bullets whizzed overhead.

"Come on out! You cannot hide forever!" His opponent declared, the subsequent lull in the shooting indicating that she was reloading.

Two seconds later, and Cecilia was shooting again. One shot slammed into his cover, causing cracks to grow in the cheap foam material used to build the castle. Two more identical-sounding pre-recorded gunshots played out a moment later, not quite loud enough to mask the 'pop!' of Cecilia's compressed air rifle. Once again, both shots went long as Cecilia overcompensated for her weak weapon.

Salvation came from an unlikely source, as another familiar voice made itself known.

"ICHIKA!" He barely had any time to dive out of the way of Rin's attack, the Chinese girl swinging at him with a foam Dao that somehow managed to make a 'Schwing!' noise as it sliced through empty air. Tatenashi must have put speakers into the handle, Ichika mused as he dodged out of Rin's follow-up strike. Unfortunately, that dodge had left him unbalanced, a fact that Rin gleefully exploited with another strike aimed at his knees. The foam blade connected, and Ichika found himself on the ground.

"You're mine!" The Chinese girl exclaimed gleefully, raising her glass slipper-clad foot for the finishing blow and inadvertently flashing the entire audience. Then, she brought her foot down and Ichika barely rolled out of the way. Fortunately for him, the floor seemed to be made out of the same cheap foam as the rest of the castle, and Rin's slipper heel ended up stuck inside it.

"Rin-san! How indecent of you!" Cecilia shouted from up above, before changing targets.

"Ow!" Rin exclaimed as the first bullet hit home. Not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, Ichika scrambled away, running towards a nearby door. Behind him, Rin had somehow managed to catch Cecilia's next bullet with her sword, knocking it away from her.

"Haha! My martial arts can even beat your- Ow!" Rin's boast was cut off as she tried and failed to block Cecilia's next shot.

"Take that!" Cecilia crowed.

"Wait a minute! He's getting away!" Rin shouted a moment later, having glanced in his direction. She had managed to work her slipper free, and promptly took a throwing stance. Grabbing the nearest thing that fit in his hand, specifically a plastic candlestick, Ichika just barely brought it up in time to bat a side a thrown kunai. Two more whizzed past him, chipping away parts of the foam castle wall as Ichika dove for the doorway. He made it inside and slammed it shut, dropping the bar into place a moment later. Looking around, he found himself at the start of a long hallway, several doors on either side of it.

"You let him get away!" Rin's voice echoed from the other side of the doorway.

"I had him! You were the one who didn't stick to the plan!" Cecilia replied, punctuating her words with a set of gunshots. Ichika's eyes widened at that. Tatenashi had given them time to plan things out? Who knew what-

His train of though was cut off as his foot was caught in a tripwire. This activated a trap, releasing hundreds of tiny rubber bouncy balls and causing him to lose his footing. As he tumbled to the ground, one of the doors opened and Kanzashi stepped out.

"I'm so sorry about that, Ichika-kun..." She muttered, face red as she hid behind the comically oversized bazooka she held in her hands.

"What is going on?" Ichika demanded, trying to stand only for his foot to slip on a ball, sending him back to the floor.

"W-Well... I'm not sure how to... Just give me the crown and I promise it will all be over!" Kanzashi exclaimed.

"Alright, fine! Here you- Ow!" The electric shock hit him hard as he tried to take off the crown.

"However, though the Cinderella Warriors are fierce, the Prince's love for his home country is even greater! If he so much as takes off his crown, his remorse strikes like lightning!" Tatenashi narrated as Ichika slammed the crown back onto his head.

"Also, for those of you placing bets, Orimura-kun has lasted for exactly one minute so far!" Tatenashi said.

"Wait, you're gambling on me?" Ichika exclaimed, incredulous.

"W-Well..." Kanzashi blushed again.

"And as for you, my dearest sister, I do remember you putting down five minutes! I do hope you remembered your wager!" Tatenashi continued, and just from her voice Ichika could imagine the wide smile on her face.

"Oh no! Um... Ichika, the exit is that way! P-Please be back here in four minutes!" Kanzashi said, pointing to a door near the end of the hallway.

"He's in here!" Rin's voice came from the other side of the doorway.

"I-I'll hold them off! Run! And be back here in four minutes!" Kanzashi whispered, and Ichika nodded. Crawling out of the ball field, he stood and just barely ducked into the nearest doorway as the thin balsa wood door at the start of the hallway was knocked down.

"What the-?" Rin exclaimed a moment later as she slipped and fell, her impact nearly drowning out the sound of Kanzashi's rocket firing.

"KYAA! What was that for?" Rin demanded.

"Y-You need to cool down!" Kanzashi replied.

"Why you... I'LL KILL YOU!" Hearing those words, Ichika ran down the new hallway he had found himself in. This one had only one exit at its end.

"Ichika! Wait!" He stopped as Ori's voice emanated from his watch.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Long story short, I have a bet to win and my money is on you finding a way to escape the stage. Unfortunately there aren't that many electronics on stage so I can't analyze its structure." Ori explained.

"Alright, so what do I do?" Ichika asked.

"Well, you see that brick over there? The one that's sticking out of the wall?" Ori asked, and Ichika nodded.

"That's the endpoint of a weapon chute. Too small for you to climb through, but I may have arranged for a bit of a care package to come your way. Pull the brick out and see for yourself!" The AI explained. Ichika obeyed and pulled the brick aside to reveal...

A rubber knife and a bright pink toy pistol.

"Sorry! It was the best I could do!" Ori said as he took the weapons.

"Thanks anyway." Ichika sighed, before moving on to the end of the hallway.

"Good luck! I'll keep you updated if I find a way out!" Ori said. When she didn't continue, Ichika nodded and opened the door. His eyes widened as they took in the next room's contents.

"I-I-I-Ichika-k-kun... C-Come t-to bed..." A bright red-faced Charlotte lay in the center of an immense four-poster bed that took up the center of the room. The poor blonde had covered herself with the blanket, and was clearly so embarrassed that she could barely speak.

"Ch-Charlotte? What are you doing?" Ichika stammered out.

"What does it look like she's doing? She's seducing you! Now get in the bed!" Laura's voice shouted at him, although he couldn't pinpoint its location.

"Laura? Where are you? What did you do to Charlotte?" Ichika demanded.

"Nothing! I-I'm not Laura! Now get in the bed!" Laura replied.

"L-Laura, what-" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Quiet, Charlotte. Just a little longer. Ichika, just get in the bed already!" Laura said, switching between comforting Charlotte and shouting at Ichika, who still stood in the doorway.

"I'm not-"

"Ichika! Get. In. The. Bed." Laura shouted, and Ichika realized that her voice was coming from up above. Looking up, he saw that they were in the middle of a circular tower with an obviously fake wood ceiling. One square piece of the ceiling looked off, and judging by how it was shifting there was clearly someone hiding behind it.

"Laura, what are you doing up there?" He shouted.

"I'm not up here! Get in the bed already!" Laura shouted back down, her cover shaking as she spoke.

"She'll stay up there all day if she has to..." Charlotte muttered.

"Ichika, there is an arena exit outside of this tower. You should be able to break out of the window." Ori reported. Indeed, there was a window in the wall, just above the head of the bed. Sighing, Ichika sized up the distance and jumped. Unfortunately he forgot to account for the bed's curtains, and ended up jumping headfirst into them. The curtain arrested his movement, but the bed's frame was not quite sturdy enough to support the result. Charlotte cried out in shock as the bed collapsed, the mattress falling down as the frame came crashing inward, covering them both in curtains.

That was when Laura made her move, leaping down from the ceiling. Supported by only a bungee cord, she grabbed at Ichika's crown. Unfortunately, she just missed the mark and ended up grabbing a fistfull of curtains instead, which Ichika was already tangled in.

Then, the anchor that Laura used for her bungee cord snapped and the silver-haired girl came tumbling down on top of him, groaning in pain.

"That... That was the worst plan ever." Charlotte screamed from somewhere to Ichika's left.

"I-It looked better in my head!" Laura exclaimed.

Keeping his objective in mind, Ichika began to crawl in the direction where he thought the window was located.

"Never mind that! We need to get the crown!" Laura shouted, and he felt her grab at his head. He rolled over, unwinding the curtains twisted around him and revealing his surroundings. Laura was currently underneath him, covered by a curtain, but judging by how she had just locked his leg she-

Ichika just barely managed to stick his arm out to prevent Laura from rolling him over.

"Charlotte! What are you waiting for?" Laura exclaimed. At that, Ichika looked up to see Charlotte's face inches from his own, the blonde girl still covering herself with the blanket.

"I-I-"

There! Laura's grip on his leg slackened for a moment, and he leaped for the window.

"Ichika! Charlotte, stop him!" Laura shouted as Ichika landed on top of her partner, pulled back by the curtain still tangled around his legs. His hand fell on something soft, and he quickly pushed off, leaving the pillow behind him as he jumped once more towards the window.

As soon as he was at the window, he slammed his hand into it. The clear acrylic fell out almost immediately, and Ichika leaped out of the tower, legs still tangled in a curtain. Quickly untangling himself, he stood and ran for where Ori had said the door was located.

However, just as the exit was in his sight, a pair of heels clacked against the stage floor and a figure into view, coming to stand between him and his way out.

Much like the other girls, Houki was wearing a silver Cinderella dress, while her hands were clasped over the hilt of her weapon of choice. The katana in question was sheathed in a black scabbard decorated with swirling golden dragons. The kanji for 'Death' was inlaid into its hilt, although it was partially covered by a shiny golden 'Made in China' sticker.

"Damn you Aki... I know you told her!" Ori muttered as she took in the sight.

"Did you really believe it would be this easy? I know you, Orimura. I can predict your every move! You have no choice but to surrender your crown to me!" Houki declared, moving to draw her weapon and unleash all of its fearsome destructive force in a single blow.

"Houki... You may have been my friend since we were children, but I will not allow you to stand between me and my freedom!" Ichika replied, raising his knife with one hand. He patted his pockets, looking for the pistol he had picked up, but it was nowhere to be found. It must have fallen out in the bedroom.

The two fighters squared off, settling into their respective stances as they scrutinized each other, playing out countless battles in their mind without making a single move.

"Ha!" Houki was the first to move, drawing and striking in a single motion. Ichika caught the blade with his knife and moved in closer, trying to get inside Houki's guard. His childhood friend was faster though, and quickly stepped back to get back some space. Her weapon gave her superior reach, and she sought to keep him at a distance, while his aim was to close in until his knife could be put to good use. However, Houki's decisive slashing strikes quickly put him on the defensive, and he was barely able to dodge out of the way.

Suddenly, Houki cried out and paused in her attack.

"Ow!" She cried out as Laura ran around the corner, pink toy pistol clutched in both hands. She fired as fast as she was able, hitting both Houki and Ichika in the process, and soon depleted the magazine.

A moment later Charlotte ran around the corner with a giant foam battleaxe in her hands. She was now wearing her Cinderella dress, and her anger was plain to see as she swung her weapon with reckless abandon, uncaring about who or what she hit. Laura went down first, the axe catching her in the stomach. Next it was Houki's turn, although it took the berserk French girl a few strikes to overwhelm her.

Ichika tried to take advantage of the opportunity to run for the exit, but he barely made it two steps before Houki's katana flew over his head. Without thinking, he reached out and caught it, twisting around just in time to block Charlotte's first strike. Faster than he could blink, his opponent was already winding up for her second blow. He stepped aside, just barely dodging it, but Charlotte surged forward. A second later she stood between him and the door, and Ichika knew that all hope was lost.

He raised the katana as if preparing to strike, and in the moment where Charlotte braced to defend against it he threw the weapon and bravely ran away. The katana was batted aside easily enough, but that momentary distraction had bought him enough time to get away.

Unfortunately, just as he rounded the corner, a very angry and very soaked Rin ran out to meet him.

"Ichika! You may have gotten away once, but I will not let you run away again!" She screamed, and Ichika dodged her first blow.

"Four minutes! That's the four minute mark!" Tatenashi gleefully exclaimed. Charlotte ran into view as she spoke, axe still raised.

A gunshot rang out a moment later and Charlotte was stopped in her tracks, her angry gaze shifting from Ichika to the perch where Cecilia had shot her from. The English girl squeaked in terror as Charlotte sprinted towards her, intent on reminding her just whose nation had won the Hundred Years' War.

Rin mopped her brow once Charlotte vanished back into the castle, before resuming her attempts to strike at Ichika. Fortunately for him he was ready and armed, and was able to keep her from landing any major blows.

"Five minutes are up! You know what that means, right?" Their battle was interrupted by Tatenashi's sudden proclamation.

"Of course you do! It's time for the audience to participate! Remember, whoever brings Orimura-kun's crown to me wins an extra-special prize!" The student council president declared, and the audience roared in delight.

"Run! I'll hold them off!" Rin shouted, panic clear in her voice as she turned to face the oncoming stampede.

"I will remember your sacrifice!" Ichika shouted back as he turned and ran once more, leaping off the stage and into the fake forest that surrounded the castle. The crowd had seen him jump, however, and with a cry of 'AFTER HIM!' the rest of the students began to give chase.

Fortunately for him, an emergency access hatch in the arena floor opened up, and he eagerly jumped down it, closing the hatch behind him.

"Thanks for the save, Ori." He said, taking stock of his surroundings. He had ended up in Girls' locker room, underneath the arena. The actual lights were off, but a strip of fluorescent material on the ceiling gave him enough light to see.

"That wasn't me." Ori's reply made him pause. If she hadn't opened the hatch for him, who did?

Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the quiet room, causing him to stand and turn to face their source.

"Nobody will find you here." Makigami Reiko spoke, a predatory grin on her face as she stalked towards him. Alarm bells going off in his head, Ichika reached for his pouch, which he had strapped on top of the outfit Tatenashi had supplied to him. A second later, his gun was out and raised, aimed at the woman's chest. She raised an eyebrow at the move.

"Whatever it is, I am not interested." Ichika replied. Reiko just laughed at that.

"You have a nasty bark, little boy. I wonder, does your bite match?" There was no fear or uncertainty in her voice, despite the gun pointed straight at her.

"Don't move. Who are you?" Ichika answered, keeping his gun level as he looked the woman over. The air around him shimmered slightly as he partially deployed his IS shield.

"Who am I?" The woman laughed at that.

"I am Autumn-sama... And I love it when my targets fight back."

Ichika's response to that was to squeeze the trigger. The bullet sparked off an energy shield a moment later, realizing Ichika's worst fears. The woman, Autumn, had an IS. The dark room flashed as two IS suits were fully deployed simultaneously, weapons already aimed at each other. Ichika was the one who shot first, brow furrowed in concentration as he forced his IS to respond despite his poor piloting attire. Had his IS compatibility score been any lower, the costume he was wearing would have turned it into a brick, but as it stood he was still able to control it with Ori's help.

His plasma cannon blazed as he flew backwards, the bright blue bolts washing over Autumn's shield. He recognized the IS he was facing, having seen it once before during a certain fateful trip to Hawaii.

"Ori, get a message out. I'm engaged with Phantom Task below Arena 1." He ordered.

"I think you'll find that your friends are somewhat occupied at the moment." Autumn taunted in response, firing off a burst from her own plasma cannons and shattering the row of lockers Ichika had taken cover behind. She charged at him a moment later, and Ichika dodged to the left, pitching forward as he did so to avoid the thick rope that his opponent had fired at him. It struck the wall instead and held fast, its shooter adhering its other end to the floor. Ichika cursed as he saw this, as it meant that his opponent could gradually restrict his ability to move within the cramped room.

Thus, his best option was to escape. However, the emergency arena access hatch was not an option given the crowd of students currently occupying that area, and there was only one exit that led outside of the arena, namely the locker room entrance.

"What's going on?" Ichika demanded, firing over another row of lockers.

"A diversion. What else could it be?" Autumn taunted back as she returned fire, shattering another piece of valuable cover in the room. Ichika dodged the next shot of webbing as well, moving closer to the exit as he did so. Another exchange of fire, another set of broken lockers, another dodged web shot, and Ichika was right next to it.

A second later, Autumn destroyed his cover and he dodged another web shot. However, instead of going for the nearest set of lockers, Ichika shot backwards into the hallway, opening fire to prevent Autumn from following. However, the darkness of the hallway and his continued focus on Autumn prevented him from seeing the trap until it was too late.

His suit's left foot was caught in it first, and the Infinite Arsenal spun out of control, Ichika barely twisting away to avoid slamming face-first into a wall covered in webbing.

"Too easy!" His opponent boasted as she walked up to him, a strange device now held in her suit's hand. Ichika didn't give her the satisfaction of a response as he desperately struggled to free himself. Autumn watched him struggle for a moment before sighing.

"Unfortunately, my fun can't last forever. Take a good long look around, brat, because this will be the last time you see the world outside of an interrogation chamber." She said, before slamming the device onto his chest. As soon as it made contact the Infinite Arsenal went haywire, and Ichika screamed in pain as the suit's empathic interfaces began to misfire.

"Stowing now!" Ori shouted, and a moment later the Infinite Arsenal vanished, taking the device with it. No longer in contact with the webbing, Ichika fell forward and scrambled to his feet.

He ran to the end of the hallway, noting that Autumn wasn't pursuing. That could only mean one thing... Indeed, the door leading out of the arena was covered in webbing. However, now that he no longer had his IS deployed, there were other exits available to him. He mentally thanked Tatenashi as he ran up to the main exit, avoiding contact with the webbing as he made a show of pushing at the door. Autumn laughed at the sight, and Ichika smiled.

That laugh meant that she couldn't see him flip open a panel on the wall and pull a card out of his pouch. Tatenashi had given out the maintenance corridor access cards to everyone in the group, and it just so happened that every arena locker room had the same layout, meaning that the maintenance doors were in the same place.

He swiped the card and the door opened up. Autumn stopped laughing at that, but in the time it took for her to take aim, Ichika was already out of the room. The door slid shut behind him as he ran, the last shot of webbing sealing it in place.

Knowing it wouldn't hold for long against a determined IS pilot, Ichika kept running, looking for a ladder. As soon as he found one, he scrambled up it and stopped to catch his breath. He had lost Autumn for the moment, but she was still loose in the school and was searching for him. He had to take her out fast, before she got any bright ideas involving hostages.

Unfortunately, the device that Autumn had planted on his IS had knocked it out of action, as his attempts to deploy the Infinite Arsenal had no effect. That meant his best weapon was out of the equation, but fortunately he was at a school full of IS suits, and he knew where the hangar was located. However, the costume he was currently wearing was an awful pilot suit.

"Not so fast, Orimura-kun~!" Tatenashi's pre-recorded voice taunted him as he tried to take it off, getting an electric shock for his trouble. He immediately took back every good thought he had about the student council president, before grabbing his knife and cutting the costume off. Evidently he had cut through an important wire, because this time there was no shock as he threw the prince outfit off, crown and all.

Now that he was down to his underwear, his next goal was to find a pilot suit. While empathic interfaces would work on bare skin, he knew that the resulting feedback would likely be lethal if Autumn stuck another one of those capture devices on his next suit.

Fortunately for him, there was a storage area right below the Arena hangar, and it was well stocked with all sorts of piloting essentials. The label on one unopened storage case caught his eye as he walked through the room. Apparently, IS Academy had ordered several sets of male pilot suits when he had first arrived at IS Academy. He had never used them, instead preferring his old WSI-issued suit, but they had clearly remained in storage.

Drawing his knife, Ichika cut open the package and removed one such suit. It was a two-part design, composed of a tight dark blue shirt that only covered his upper chest and a pair of equally tight pants that terminated just below his knees. The fit left much to be desired, as expected of school-issued clothing, but it was still better than nothing and he quickly put it on.

Now all that remained was to find an IS suit. Unfortunately, while the IS apparel storage location remained the same, the school's IS suits had been moved to a new hangar with the start of the new curriculum, meaning that they were halfway across the campus... With one exception.

During his time as a waiter, he had overheard some gossip about the latest arrival to IS Academy and how she was punished. Apparently, Shirone Isumi's stunt had led to her being grounded for two weeks, and Byakushiki had been confiscated as a result. From what he had heard earlier that day it had been moved to an older storage facility, which meant that there was a chance of it being in the Arena Hangar.

With that in mind, Ichika sprinted for the hangar entrance and sure enough, there it was. Reminding himself to thank Chifuyu for leaving it there, Ichika placed his hand on the white IS.

"Access denied." The suit replied, and Ichika frowned. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Then, just as suddenly, the suit spoke again.

"Access granted." Now that was even more suspicious, and Ichika did not attempt to activate it again.

"It's alright, Ichika. I should be able to handle it." Ori spoke up, drawing his attention.

"Ori? What happened? Are you alright?" He asked.

"That woman tried to disable your IS with an unknown device. Fortunately you stowed it away before it was able to get to me, and I was able to disable it. However, the Infinite Arsenal has sustained severe damage as a result of the method I used. It will take me several days to get it fixed up." Ori replied.

"Alright, at least it can be repaired. Now, what did you mean by handling the Byakushiki?" Ichika asked.

"From what I just saw, someone we both know just remotely ordered the Byakushiki's AI to disable the suit's security software, along with several empathic interface safety systems, with the probable intention of drawing you into an ACE. I can reactivate the safety features and keep the suit AI from nosing around where it's not supposed to, but it will likely fight back." Ori reported.

"Will it put you at risk?" Ichika asked, eyeing the partially dismantled Uchiganes in the room. If it came down to it, he would use one of them.

"Yes, but I am confident in my ability to last for a few minutes." Ori replied. Ichika sighed, eyeing Byakushiki with distrust before climbing into the pilot compartment.

"Go, NOW!" Ori shouted, before going silent. With the knowledge that he was on a clock, Ichika wasted no time in getting airborne, smashing his way through the roof in his haste to get outside.

He emerged into the middle of a battle, blue and purple bolts of plasma crisscrossing the sky as Cecilia and Laura dueled an IS that Ichika recognized as the Silent Zephyrs. Four Golems had accompanied the stolen IS, and were now locked in combat with several upperclassmen apiece.

Ignoring the combat for now, Ichika scanned for his own target. He quickly spotted her on the arena floor, and as evidenced by the webbing-bound students around her, she had taken hostages. Fortunately for him, Autumn was also in the middle of a standoff against several academy instructors, and she was facing away from him. He had one chance, and he quickly took stock of his suit's armaments.

Byakushiki had only one weapon, a plasma sword that bore a striking resemblance to his sister's own weapon, but the rest of the suit was clearly built around that blade.

"Ichika! I can't-" Ori shouted, her voice cutting off mid-sentence, and he knew he had no more time to waste. Byakushiki glowed a bright gold as he activated the suit's one-off ability, and the suit shot down at his target. The ignition boost module pushed him past the sound barrier, and even if she had seen him Autumn wouldn't have been able to react in time.

His sword passed through his opponent's energy shield, and at that moment it was clear that she had decided to remove her ADS system. The plasma blade cut clean through the Phantom Task IS, and Autumn screamed in pain as she fell out of her broken suit. Not bothering to look back, Ichika slowed to a stop before sending Byakushiki back to IS-space. Once the shimmering stopped, he ripped off the white bracer that remained on his arm and tossed it away.

Only then did the look back at his opponent and frowned. His strike had gone a little too low, and rather than bisect the woman along her waist, he had instead ended up severing one of her legs, while the other was barely attached at the thigh. He reached for his gun, before cursing as he realized that he'd left it behind. Still, he had his knife and he drew that instead.

Before he could make another move, the Silent Zephyrs had landed in front of him. The purple IS stood protectively over Autumn's thrashing body, its cannon leveled at Ichika's head. A moment later, the Mysterious Lady came down as well, placing itself between him and the stolen IS.

"Understood." The Phantom Task pilot spoke, likely responding to a transmitted order. A moment later, one of the suit's drones scooped up Autumn's body, lifting it into the air as its parent IS took off. Tatenashi began to climb on after her, only to freeze and fly back down, heading straight for the destroyed Phantom Task IS.

"GET BACK!" She shouted, a dome of water forming around the broken suit as she spoke. Before Ichika could do more than take a panicked step, there was a blinding flash of light and he went flying back, nearly blacking out from the impact of the blast. He felt himself land on a cool, wet cushion and tried to thank Tatenashi for catching him. All he could do however, was cough and feel the metallic taste of blood fill his mouth.

The cushion quickly disappeared, and he felt a pair of metal hands lift him into the air. He thought he heard shouting, but with how his ears were ringing he couldn't be sure. He felt his body being moved and flown somewhere, but he never found out where before he blacked out completely.

* * *

"... Negative. I have performed a full systems scan after completing self-repairs, and I was able to determine just what data the hostile AI was able to take. None of it is enough to constitute a critical leak. One major and three minor leaks did take place, although I have reason to believe that none of it is new information for The Doctor." Ori's voice was the first thing Ichika heard as he woke up.

"That is irrelevant. You endorsed a course of action that you knew would potentially result in a critical information leak to a hostile party. You lied to your handler about your capability to-" Maya replied.

"I did not lie!" Ori exclaimed.

"What else would you call deliberately overstating your capabilities like you did?" Maya asked, remaining calm in the face of a furious AI.

"I did not overstate my capabilities! Against any other AI, I would have-"

"You knew ahead of time that the core for Byakushiki was unique, and thus knew that the models you used to predict its capabilities were inaccurate. In spite of that, you went ahead and endorsed a course of action that led to Operative Orimura being forced to stow Byakushiki away in combat to save you and prevent a catastrophic breach of secrecy! You can deny it all you want, but you made the call and your partner paid for it." Maya replied.

A moment passed in silence, before Maya spoke again.

"You may have shut off your hologram, but I know you can still hear me. I expect a full report on the leaked information in my inbox five minutes from now. By this time tomorrow, I expect a report on the status of the academy's cybersecurity. I want to know what the hell happened to our radar array and communications systems, preferably before the next Phantom Task strike. Understood?"

"Understood." Ori replied, her voice flat.

"Good. Ichika, you can stop pretending to sleep now." Maya ordered, and Ichika cracked his eyes open in response.

"Ask any questions you have now. I will have to notify your sister soon, and I want to get this discussion over with by then." She continued as he sat up.

"How long was I out?" Ichika asked.

"About eighteen hours, most of which were spent in surgery. You were very lucky. Twenty years ago, we would not have been able to save you." Maya replied, and Ichika gasped at that.

"How bad was it?" He asked.

"You were very close to the epicenter of a small-scale IS core detonation. Severe inner ear damage, severe pulmonary contusion, six fractured ribs, body-wide radiation damage, body-wide minor neurological damage, and minor brain trauma. Once again, you were very lucky to be so close to such an advanced medical facility." Maya explained.

"Damn... Chifuyu-nee is going to kill me. What about the Silent Zephyrs? Did we manage to bring it down?" He asked.

"No. All escorting golems were taken down, but the Zephyrs was able to escape. You did quite a number on the Arachne's pilot though. It's likely that this is the last we'll be seeing of her." Ichika nodded at that.

"Alright. Now it's my turn to ask the questions. Your AI already submitted her report, but recent events have given me cause to doubt her reliability. Tell me what happened to you, to the best of your ability, from the moment you fell into the girls' locker room." Maya ordered, and Ichika quickly recounted what had happened, starting with his confrontation with Autumn and ending with the explosion that knocked him out.

"If I may ask, what happened while I was fighting Autumn? I know the Silent Zephyrs attacked, but aside from that I am clueless." He asked.

"I'll tell you what happened! Our radar array went down, allowing that damn IS to enter our airspace undetected! What's worse, the JSDF had picked it up on one of their sets earlier on and called us to ask if it was one of ours. That call never reached anyone here, but when asked the JSDF reported that someone had responded and told them that it was a scheduled squadron practice exercise!" Maya exclaimed. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"Then, once we realized that we were under attack ordered a full evacuation of the stadium, we discovered that the academy wireless power grid was down as well! Our representative candidates got out just fine, but everyone else? We should count ourselves lucky that Phantom Task was more focused on you than on causing collateral damage, otherwise we would have had a bloodbath on our hands." She shook her head.

"How-"

"That's what I want to know! What's obvious is that someone here at this academy is a Phantom Task agent, but we have no goddamn idea as to who it is. We screened all our new staff extensively, and they all came up clean!"

"Could it be an AI?" Ichika asked.

"I'm beginning to think that it is, but that does not explain how a Phantom Task AI managed to infiltrate an area guarded by multiple Organization counterparts. The only way for it to have done so without being detected is if it was physically smuggled in, then uploaded into the relevant systems directly. That requires a man on the inside." Maya replied, before glancing at her watch.

"Anyway, my time with you is almost up. I have an appointment coming up, and I have to tell your sister that you're awake. I suggest you wait to speak with your AI until after she visits, and remember: Report any suspicious activity directly to me. Understood?" Ichika nodded at that.

"Understood."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow." With those words, Maya stood and walked out of the room.

Five minutes later, Chifuyu all but broke down the door in her haste to see him.

"Chifuyu-nee, I-" Those were the only words he managed before his sister wrapped him in a gentle hug.

"You damn idiot... You said you would never do this to me again!" Chifuyu said, Ichika wincing as she spoke.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered. Chifuyu merely squeezed him tighter.

"Sorry doesn't cut it! If that explosion hadn't happened so close to a hospital, you would have been dead or crippled!" She exclaimed.

"I... What about everyone else? Was anyone else hurt?" Ichika asked, changing the subject.

"You got off fairly light in comparison to some of the others caught in the blast. Tatenashi may have been able to prevent the worst of the explosion, but she wasn't able to completely stop the blast wave or the radiation burst. Half of the hostages the... The attacker took were blinded, and all of them have sustained major lung damage. Most of them will be in this hospital for weeks if not months. Thankfully, there were no deaths but..." Chifuyu trailed off, her voice turning firm.

"Ichika, what the hell happened down in that locker room?" She asked, releasing him and taking a step back.

"What do you know?" He asked.

"I watched the security camera footage. Now, who was that woman and why was she targeting you specifically?"

"I... She called herself Autumn. I don't know why-"

"Bullshit. Ichika, I watched the footage. I saw how quickly you drew that gun. You recognized her."

"Of course I did. I met with her earlier that day at the festival, but I thought she was just some scammer trying to get at my squadron's money! When I saw her down in that room, I knew something was wrong and tried to get out." Ichika protested.

"And so you pointed a gun at her." Chifuyu replied.

"She had an IS!" Ichika exclaimed.

"Which you didn't find out about until you fired. Now, I want to know why the hell someone on the American Most Wanted Terrorists list tried to capture my brother alive."

"I don't know!" Ichika replied, speaking the truth for once. Why had Autumn tried to capture him alive? How much did Phantom Task know about him? Chifuyu's eyes narrowed at his response.

"You may not know why she came for you, but you know something else. Ichika, I've tolerated your secrets up until now, but when these secrets lead to terrorists launching a coordinated attack on IS Academy I know it is time to put my foot down. I am giving you a chance now to tell me everything." She said, crossing her arms.

"I cannot." Ichika replied.

"Cannot or will not? Very well then, let's start with this." As she spoke, Chifuyu reached into her pocket and pulled out a single brass casing. Ichika recognized it as one from his own gun.

"Recognize this?" She asked, turning the casing over in her hand so that its base faced him. Ichika nodded.

"The headstamp on this casing does not match any known manufacturer, military or otherwise. The dimensions of the casing do not match any known firearms. While I have not been able to locate the weapon itself, the security footage shows that it does not match the profile of any known handgun." Chifuyu paused, allowing her words to sink in before continuing.

"Judging from how small the weapon is, it is clearly designed for concealment, and the large caliber means it was designed to inflict maximum damage to the target. Now, you will tell me who it was that gave my brother an assassination weapon, and why you decided to bring it into a school." She finished.

"I cannot." Ichika replied, looking away.

"This isn't funny, Orimura. If it had been anyone else who saw the camera footage, you would be out of the school and facing criminal charges. Now, I will ask again: Who gave you that gun?" Ichika shook his head again.

"Once again, Chifuyu-nee, I can't tell you anything!" He protested.

"Why not?" Chifuyu demanded.

"I... I..." Ichika began.

"I trust you, Chifuyu-nee. You've always... I want... I just want to tell you but I..."

"You what?" Chifuyu asked.

"I can't tell you anything! Every time we've talked like this, I wanted nothing more than to tell you everything, but I can't do that! Please, Chifuyu-nee... Don't keep trying to get information out of me. I... I don't want my sister to become a security risk." He whispered the last part, but Chifuyu caught it nonetheless.

"What did..." She began, her voice horrified.

"Please, don't try and investigate further. There was no gun, you just came in here to scold me about my recklessness, nothing more. Just-" Chifuyu's hand clenched and unclenched as he spoke, and before he could finish his sister smacked him across the face, cutting him off. Then, without another word, she stormed out of the room.

He sat in bed, frozen in shock, until a nurse entered the room a few minutes later.

"Orimura-san just signed your release papers. You're free to go." She informed him, snapping him out of his stupor.

"Ah, thank you. Is there anything else I need to know before I go?" He asked.

"Yes. If your skin becomes discolored, or if you at any point start to feel nauseous or vomit, please come back here immediately. In addition, we will need you to return here next Monday for a check-up to ensure that there is no untreated radiation damage." The nurse replied, handing him a packet.

"If you experience any of the symptoms listed here, report to the infirmary at once." Ichika thanked the nurse as he took it.

"Now, unless you have anything else to report, you are clear to leave."

"No, I don't. Thank you for taking care of me." Ichika replied, and the nurse nodded.

"You're welcome." The nurse paused for a bit, before continuing.

"Oh, right! Some of your friends stopped by to visit you yesterday, and ended up spending the night in the waiting room. They just left to get breakfast a couple minutes ago, so they should be in the cafeteria by now. They seemed pretty worried, so I'd highly suggest checking up on them."

"They really spent the night here?" Ichika asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. They were really nice too, and helped out a bit with various tasks while we dealt with all the injured... When you see them, give them my thanks." Ichika nodded at that.

"I'll be sure to do that. Thanks again." With those words, he walked out of the infirmary doors.

* * *

Several minutes later, and Ichika had found himself a private area near one of the practice arenas. He knew that it was rude to keep his friends waiting after the concern they had shown him, but the conversation he had overheard between Ori and Maya remained in his head and he knew he needed to address it immediately.

"Ichika? What is it?" The AI asked as her hologram shimmered into view.

"I heard what Maya said. Are you alright?" He asked, and the hologram shimmered.

"No, I am not." Ori answered, refusing to elaborate.

"Why not?" Ichika asked.

"You heard my conversation with Maya. You know why." Ori replied, her voice dull.

"No actually, I don't. All I know is that Maya accused you of lying. As your partner, I find that hard to believe. So what happened? I know that something went wrong with the Byakushiki's AI, but I don't know what." Ichika answered. His partner's hologram flashed red at the mention of the other AI. It was a moment before she replied.

"Back in the hangar, I told you that I would be able to hold the other AI at bay for a few minutes without risk to myself, long enough for you to finish the battle." Ichika nodded at that.

"You did, but I remember you trying to tell me something less than half a minute later." He replied.

"Yes. When I predicted the other AI's capabilities, I used data taken from my previous encounters with Tabane-pattern AI units. I... I did so knowing that my predictions may be inaccurate thanks to the Byakushiki utilizing a unique single-digit core as opposed to a post-treaty one."

"So what happened?" Ichika asked. Once again, Ori flashed red.

"The Byakushiki's AI... It was significantly more advanced than anything I had encountered. It could think twice as fast as me, and the only reason I lasted as long as I did was because it was not interested in conflict! Of course, when it tried to access the empathic interfaces to look at your mind, I moved to stop it. I... I had to sacrifice several portions of my memory in order to give you the time you needed." Ichika blinked at that.

"But... That means-"

"No critical information was stolen, and I was able to restore the lost portions from backup. However, information was still lost, and some of it may be used to make Tabane's AIs more effective against our own in future attacks."

"I... Ori-"

"And then to make matters worse, it wasn't enough to save you! You could have died because I overestimated my abilities!"

"You made a mistake. It's only human."

"But I'm not human! I was supposed to be different! If something like that can occur, what other mistakes have I made? What other mistakes will I make? AI technology is still a new field! What if we have a limited lifespan, and I'm reaching the end of mine? What if I'm somehow degrading? I don't-"

"Ori, listen to me. You making an error is not the end of the world."

"How can you say that? You nearly died!"

"And I'm still alive now. My objective was to use the Byakushiki to engage Autumn and you were able to hold out long enough for me to take her out. Our objective was accomplished, and-"

"And you nearly died as a result!"

"Ori! If you hadn't assured me that you could hold the Byakushiki AI at bay, I would have used one of the cannibalized Uchiganes instead, or I would have had to run halfway across the campus to get to another IS. In either case, I would not have been able to stop Autumn before she killed someone. What happened wasn't ideal, but ideal went out the window as soon as the Infinite Arsenal was disabled. We did the best we could, and we made it through alive." Ori was quiet for a few moments after Ichika finished speaking.

"Ichika... Do you trust me?" She finally asked.

"Of course I do! One mistake isn't going to change that!" He answered immediately.

"I... I see. Thank you, Ichika. I-I need to think for a while. Alone." She stammered out, and Ichika frowned. AIs did not stutter like Ori had just done, or at least not unless their entire being was somehow occupied to the point where they could not think their words over. Before he could respond, Ori's hologram vanished.

Sighing, Ichika stood and looked around. The sun was still rising, and a quick look at a nearby clock told him that breakfast was still being served in the cafeteria. Hoping that the girls hadn't left the building to eat elsewhere, he headed off to meet them.

* * *

Fortunately for him, the girls had decided to stay in the cafeteria, and he was able to quickly spot Tatenashi's distinctive blue hair upon entering the large room. The smell of fresh food reminded him that he hadn't eaten in nearly a full day, and so he quickly made his way over to the serving counter and ordered breakfast.

He noted that the room was slowly growing quieter as he walked, and by the time he reached the counter the cafeteria was silent. A quick look around revealed that the entire focus of the room was on him.

Breakfast that day was fish and rice, with a side of miso soup and soy beans. The stares of the cafeteria's occupants followed him as he made his way over to his table, and several girls scrambled out of his way as he passed. Finally, he reached the table and sat down beside Rin.

"Good morning! Did you miss me?" He asked and the floodgates opened, hundreds of voices starting to chatter all over the room in response.

"Ichika? You're awake already? Are you alright? Does anything hurt? I'm sorry!" That last bit was from Tatenashi, and he barely heard it thanks to Rin dropping everything and wrapping her arms around him.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" The Chinese girl exclaimed, her face inches from his own. Her eyes were glistening slightly, as if she was about to stop crying.

A second pair of arms encircled them both a moment later, and Rin's face was thrust into his shoulder.

"Ichika, you reckless, moronic, stupid, idiotic... What could have possibly possessed you to stow Byakushiki away? Never mind that, what were you thinking, attacking a terrorist IS like that! Don't ever do something like that again, never! Never, do you hear me? Never!" Houki's rant was quickly reduced to a whisper as tears flowed freely down her face.

"H-Hey! Houki! Don't cry on me like that!" Rin choked out from between them.

"Y-You're c-crying too!" Houki replied as she let go.

"D-Don't think I'm going to forgive you for this! You almost got yourself killed and nearly broke your promise to me! Who else would I marry if... If..." Rin muttered a moment later, looking away to hide her blush. Before she could finish, Kanzashi covered her mouth.

"Ichika, it's good to see you back. You... You were so lucky." Laura spoke next, Charlotte nodding from beside her.

"We caught a glimpse of you back at the infirmary... You looked awful." The French girl added.

"I'm just glad it wasn't any worse... From what I heard, a lot of the people closer to the blast weren't as fortunate as me." Ichika replied. He heard Tatenashi choke at those words.

"I know... I... Yoshitsune-san and Hazuki-san were both caught in the blast." Kanzashi murmured in response, and Ichika gasped.

"How bad was it?" He asked, placing a hand on the quiet girl's shoulder.

"Hazuki-san... T-They told me she would be in the hospital for another week while they fix her spine..." Kanzashi trailed off, and Tatenashi choked back a sob once again. A quick glance at the older girl revealed that she was crying. Ichika quickly got out of his seat and rushed over to her.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry!" She choked out.

"There's nothing to be sorry about! If it weren't for you, people would have died!" Rin shouted from across the table.

"Nothing? Nothing?! I was the whole reason anyone got hurt! I was the one who called so many people into the same area! I'm the reason that bitch was able to take so many hostages-" Tatenashi was cut off as Ichika wrapped his arms around her.

"And if it weren't for you, everyone without an IS in the arena would be dead. You were able to stop what was basically a tiny nuclear bomb from leveling the place! You saved my life, and the lives of over a hundred other students. That's not something to be sorry about." Ichika replied, holding her close. Leaning in until only she could hear, he continued in a whisper.

"You didn't know that something like this would happen, and when everything went wrong you did everything you could to minimize the damage. Please, stop blaming yourself for doing the best you could. I've already had to deal with that from Ori." With those words, Tatenashi finally returned the embrace. Kanzashi joined in a moment later, followed by Charlotte and Rin. Houki and Laura were the last to join in, given how they had to move around the table.

After a few moments like that, Ichika noticed that someone was missing.

"Wait a minute, where is Cecilia?" He felt Laura twitch at that. It was Rin who answered.

"She left a few minutes ago. The Silent Zephyrs beat her pretty badly, and since then she's been spending almost all her time on the phone. She was the only one of us who-" Before Rin could finish, another voice cut her off.

"What, no hugs for us?" Although he couldn't see her, Ichika knew that Theresa had arrived, and judging by her choice of words the rest of his squadron was with her. The group-hug that had developed quickly sprang apart, and Ichika took the opportunity to look his squadron over. Sakura immediately stood out, thanks to the bruises on her arms and face. Theresa noticed his expression and shook her head.

"Don't worry, she's alright. Some asshole third-year pushed her down during the rush to evacuate the arena, and she got caught in the stampede." Sakura grinned at that.

"I found out who it was. We just taught her a lesson she won't forget." She said, wincing slightly.

"I wonder if she's managed to cut herself loose yet..." Ayane mused. Rei shook her head at that.

"Without her IS, she'll need outside help to cut through the chain."

"What did you girls do?" Ichika asked, concerned.

"Ambushed her as she was walking out of her dorm, tied her up with some stuff we found in engineering, and stuffed her in a closet, among other things." Theresa explained.

"Attention all students and staff: Due to recent events, all students and staff members are to be screened for radiation damage. If you have already been screened as part of treatment for sustained injuries, you are exempt from screening unless you believe you are feeling symptoms of radiation poisoning. At this time, all students in Homeroom Class 1-1, please report to the infirmary." The announcement prevented Ichika from replying.

"That's us. Let's go. We'll see you all later." Laura said, standing up. Charlotte and Houki followed her out of the cafeteria.

"Was there really that many people exposed?" Ichika asked.

"They're not just talking about the arena explosion. Four Golem cores also went off, and they didn't have someone to reduce their power. Thankfully they were high up in the air so the blasts didn't hurt anyone, but they still released a lot of radiation." Kanzashi replied.

"How much?" Ichika asked.

"From what I was told, each core went off with the force of around five tons of TNT. Not quite micro-nuke level, but still pretty powerful and with a similarly-sized radiation burst." Tatenashi answered.

"Wait, five tons? Then how did anyone in the arena survive?" Ichika exclaimed at that.

"I know... Onee-chan was able to damage the Arachne's core before it self-destructed. It... It did not go off with anywhere near its full force." Kanzashi replied, squeezing her sister's shoulder as she did so.

"Yeah. If it weren't for her quick thinking, our entire squadron would probably be dead." Theresa added.

They continued to talk for a while, before Class 1-2 was called and Rin left, along with Ayane and Rei. Theresa and Sakura left with Class 1-3, and Kanzashi was gone with 1-4. This left Ichika alone with Tatenashi.

"So, what happens now?" Ichika asked after a few minutes of silence. The student council president didn't respond immediately, choosing instead to poke at her remaining rice. Finally, she spoke.

"Honestly? I don't know. They might try to cover up a few details of the attack. They certainly won't reveal to the world that their brand new security system that they invested in specifically to stop this failed spectacularly. They will have to reveal some things though, like the arena bombing, but there certainly isn't a precedent for them to act upon-" Before she could finish, her phone buzzed. Picking it up, she read over the message she had just received, her eyes widening.

"What the- What the hell is that man thinking?" She suddenly exclaimed.

"What's going on?" Ichika asked. Tatenashi replied by pulling him closer, lowering her voice.

"The principal of IS Academy has apparently determined that the best way to respond to a terrorist attack is to continue with business as usual! That means the tournament scheduled for next month will proceed as planned!" She hissed, pointing to the message.

"Tournament? What-"

"It was supposed to be the first official squadron tournament, and it's going to be held outside of IS Academy!"

"Where?" Ichika asked.

"I believe they picked out an area north of Hokkaido. If that's true, we'll probably end up spending a few weeks in Nemuro. Now, I'm afraid I have to go. Someone has to knock some sense into the principal's head." Tatenashi stood up as she spoke, before quickly walking out the door. Once again, Ichika was alone.

Sighing, he stood up and returned his breakfast tray, before heading out the door. He may have put it off by speaking with Ori and his friends first, but the fact remained that Chifuyu was furious with him, and he needed to calm her down before she did something that could put her in danger. With that in mind, he began to make his way to her office.

* * *

 **A/N: Here it is, and boy am I glad that a program like Nukemap exists! It makes it really easy to estimate the effects of nuclear-style explosions, even if they're somewhat unreliable because of how small I ended up setting the yield.**

 **I'm not really sure of how this chapter turned out, as I feel like I may have made some characters slip into OOC territory by accident. It makes sense for them to act different given the circumstances, but I'm not sure if I was able to write that difference correctly. Honestly, writing this chapter, especially the later portions of it, felt more like writing a bridge between two more important events than writing specifically about an event and its aftermath. I'm not sure if the result is good enough.**

 **As such, I would appreciate any reviews discussing this, and as always please feel free to point out any issues or inconsistencies within the story so that I may correct them.**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Here it is! Once again, I apologize for the delay.**

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

Ichika stood in front of his sister's office door, his mind racing as he carefully considered what he would have to say. Regardless of what would happen in the next few minutes, his relationship with his sister would be forever changed.

Finally, he knocked on the door. When no response came, he sighed and opened it.

"I am not taking visitors..." Chifuyu trailed off as he walked in, closing the door behind him.

"Ori, secure the room." He ordered and the AI complied.

"Done. Nothing will leave this room electronically." She replied a moment later.

"What do you want?" Chifuyu asked as he sat down across from her.

"To set things straight, and to tell the truth." He replied, causing his sister to raise an eyebrow.

"Oh? Is there something you couldn't tell me when we were alone in the infirmary?" She asked.

"The infirmary was not secure, and I was not prepared back then. Here, we can talk." He replied.

"Very well then. Go on." Chifuyu said, gesturing for him to do just that.

"No. Before I say anything else, I need you to swear to me that you will not speak about this to anyone else. A secret is no longer secret once it's shared, and I am taking an enormous risk in sharing it with you. That means I cannot have you going out and spilling this, even if it is to someone you trust." He held his sister's gaze for a minute as she considered his words.

"Very well, my lips are sealed."

"I mean it, Chifuyu-nee. That means you will not speak a word of this to Yamada-sensei, or Tabane-san, or the principal... You won't even mention it to me unless we are in a similarly secure environment like this one and I have given you the go-ahead, no matter what you think of me by the end of this conversation. If you don't, thousands of lives may be lost. Do I make myself clear?" Once again, Chifuyu's gaze was unreadable before she finally nodded.

"Understood. I am curious though, what sort of secret are you privy to that requires such security?" She asked. Ichika was quiet for a long moment as he chose his next words carefully.

"I am sure you are aware of Phantom Task, correct?" He asked.

"Yes." Chifuyu replied curtly.

"Then you are, to a degree, aware of the secret war they are attempting to wage against the world. Of how they were the ones responsible for the decapitation of Russian leadership six years ago and the subsequent fragmentation of the Russian Federation..." Chifuyu raised an eyebrow at that, but allowed him to continue.

"If you know that, then you are obviously aware that their aim is not just set on Russia, and that their ultimate objective seems to be the destabilization of the entire globe, with Russia merely being a test case."

"I am very much aware of what Phantom Task has been doing. What I am curious about is not them, but rather how you are involved in all of this." Chifuyu replied.

"I am getting to that. If you are aware of Phantom Task, Chifuyu-nee, then you must also be aware of the various opposition groups that are trying to combat their actions."

"And you are a member of one such organization... Probably one operating under the cover of a certain awfully generous corporation." Chifuyu finished his sentence for him.

"I am." He replied, and his sister breathed a sigh of relief.

"So that is all. You have no idea how worried I was..." That was not the response Ichika expected. Evidently, his confusion showed, as Chifuyu continued to speaking.

"That is not to say that I am not furious at you for joining such an organization without telling me. I am also quite angry at the people who recruited you... Six years ago, correct? That was when you first started your visits to the WSI tower... Had you not sworn me to silence, Ichika, my first action after you left would be to give Stukanov an earful. He was the one who recruited you, right?" Ichika did not respond to that directly, instead frowning at how quickly his sister was putting the dots together.

"Once again, I have to make sure that you do not speak of this to anyone outside of this room. My organization takes secrecy extremely seriously, as that is the only way they have been able to build up enough paramilitary strength to pose a legitimate threat to Phantom Task. The circumstances behind the recent attack imply a Phantom Task infiltrator within IS Academy, and you could become a target if they knew you had any involvement with the organization that has been interdicting their pacific supply lines. As you have seen, I have a hard enough time defending myself, and I am not sure what I would do if something were to happen to you." That brought a faint smile to Chifuyu's lips.

"You forget, Ichika, that I am more than capable of defending myself." Chifuyu responded.

"Not always. Remember the Phantom Task attack during our end of semester field trip? I saw your injuries, Chifuyu-nee, and I know that the only reason you came back was because one of my organization's pilots arrived in time to save you." That caused his sister to blink.

"Those planes were from your organization?" She asked, and he nodded.

"I see. That explains a fair bit..." She trailed off, before typing something on her keyboard. She stared at her screen for a few moments, before nodding to herself.

"Is there anything else you wish to know?" Ichika asked.

"Yes. How many times have you been ordered into combat?" Chifuyu asked.

"Never. While I have fought on several occasions, they were all cases where I voluntarily committed to combat in spite of the option to avoid it."

"I see. Very well then, I have just one more question for you." She said, beckoning Ichika over to the other side of her desk. He found her looking at a zoomed in map of several islands.

"I am technically not supposed to talk to you about this as you are a student, but I believe it is pertinent to share this with you given the circumstances. The first tournament of the second semester is coming up, and it will take place over the Habomai and Shikotan islands." Chifuyu explained, gesturing at the islands on the map before zooming out until the entirety of northern Japan was visible.

"From what you told me, the aircraft that engaged the Phantom Task force attacking us on the beach was from your organization. Assuming that the interceptors launched immediately once the Phantom Task forces were detected and flew at roughly Mach 2, they would have had to launch from some location within this zone." At that, Chifuyu circled an area of her screen.

"Their approach from the north, coupled with a lack of hidden airstrips in the area, means that they could not have launched from the Japanese mainland. That leaves Sakhalin, Russia, and the Kuril Islands as possible launch points for them. Sakhalin and Russia are both unlikely, as given the state of things that region is full of military bases that would not take kindly to unidentified aircraft. This means that they must have launched from somewhere within the Kuril islands." Ichika did not know how to respond to that. Five minutes, one piece of information, and Google Earth had effectively allowed Chifuyu to deduce the approximate location of the Organization base.

"Ichika, I cannot overestimate how important the coming tournament is to IS Academy. Thanks to the revamped curriculum, we are ridiculously over-budget. Even though we bought almost all the Blank Slates at cost, the cost of so many IS suits alone is enough to keep the entire academy operating for two years. Add to that the cost of so much rapid construction and renovation and IS Academy is placed squarely in the red for the next five years. We cannot change our tuition rates without approval from more than three quarters of the countries invested in this academy, so the only way IS Academy can remain financially viable is if we can justify the expenditures via equipment test results in the coming tournaments." Ichika nodded.

"The next two tournaments must succeed, or else this school will suffer once the quarterly budget review comes. We cannot have Phantom Task interrupt and force a cancellation, or else the invested nations and corporations will not get the data they want, and as such will not approve a temporary budget increase. I think you know where I am going with this, Ichika." Chifuyu finished.

"So you want my organization to have interceptors on standby in the event of Phantom Task making itself known... That would be difficult, Chifuyu-nee. I am not particularly high in the chain of command, and certainly do not have the authority to order around fighters.

"I don't care what you have to do, Ichika. I need those fighters on station, or at the very least ready to launch in the event of Phantom Task making its presence known. Get it done, and I will consider it adequate payment for keeping this secret from me for all these years." Chifuyu replied.

"I will do my best, but I can make no promises." Ichika said.

"Do whatever it takes, or you may not have a second year of IS Academy." Chifuyu replied, moments before a desktop notification popped up, stating that she had an unread E-mail. Unable to help himself, Ichika read the message over her shoulder, and had to bite back a laugh as Chifuyu growled at its contents. Apparently, there was one hotel in Nemuro willing to host the entirety of IS Academy's student body for free, but it was on the condition that Chifuyu would star in an advertisement for them.

"Should I be worried about my sister becoming a TV star?" Ichika asked, not bothering to hide his mirth.

"Shut up..." Chifuyu groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"Is there any other way?" Ichika asked.

"Not on our budget." Chifuyu sighed, before looking up.

"Why are you still here anyway? Shouldn't you be off negotiating with your secretive contacts?" She demanded, shooing him away from her computer.

"When will the tournament take place?" Ichika asked.

"Next month, in about a week and a half, and it expected to last at least one week. We need to start justifying our expenditures as soon as possible, after all. Tatenashi will be making the announcement within the next few days." Chifuyu replied.

"Very well... Have a nice day, Chifuyu-nee, and please, smile for the cameras!" Before his sister could respond, he walked out of the room.

As soon as the door slid shut, Ichika breathed a deep sigh of relief and collapsed against a nearby wall. That meeting had gone exceptionally well, to say the least. He had expected his sister to be furious, and require extreme effort to persuade to secrecy, but instead she was almost too accepting of what he was now a part of!

Then, he remembered Tatenashi mentioning that she was already a part of an anti-Phantom Task organization based out of IS Academy. Had she been planning to integrate him into that organization? That was one possible explanation, at least.

Still, there was no point looking a gift horse in the mouth, and Ichika began to make his way over to Maya's office.

The door was open, and Maya waved him inside as soon as she saw him. He closed and locked the door, before ordering Ori to secure the room.

"What is it?" Maya asked, her cheerful teacher persona fading away once the door was closed.

"I was just talking with Tatenashi, and I have heard that there is a tournament coming up next month." Maya nodded at that.

"She just finished chewing out our principal about that, and under any other circumstances I would have agreed with her. Nonetheless, IS Academy needs to have at least two official tournaments this quarter, and as such we must go ahead with the plan. I take it that you are concerned about Phantom Task targeting you again?" She asked.

"Yes. The woman who attacked me, Autumn, was under orders to take me alive. Tatenashi mentioned it taking place outside of IS Academy, which means that there would be ample opportunity for Phantom Task to set up an attack. After all, they will probably know the exact location of the tournament long before I do thanks to their infiltrator." Ichika replied.

"It's good to see that you took the initiative with regard to this issue. It saves me the trouble of going to tell you, at any rate. The tournament will be taking place over Shikotan and the Habomai islands, with the students being housed in a hotel near Nemuro. That means our fighters are, at most, ten minutes away counting pre-launch procedures. If they are airborne and on station, that response time gets cut down to just over five minutes. Our IS suits will be on the scene shortly afterwards. Rest assured, we will not allow for any Phantom Task attack to succeed." Maya replied. Ichika did not even try to hide his shock at that.

"Just like that? I don't have to call in any favors?" Ichika asked.

"It's not just you who we are trying to protect. IS Academy is a critical strategic resource for our organization, and in less than half a year we will be getting first pick of trained IS pilots to recruit. If the school gets shut down due to repeated Phantom Task attacks, we lose this resource, and as such we must ensure that such an event does not happen." Maya replied. She left out any details about the IS Academy budget, and Ichika did not bother to mention it.

"I see... What about secrecy?" Ichika asked.

"There is no arena to spectate from, so observers will be left in Nemuro. From there, they will be watching through an array of camera drones. We have multiple AIs within the IS Academy network, and thus in the event of either an Organization asset or a Phantom Task IS entering the observation zone, we will be able to immediately shut down the entire network and fake technical difficulties while we resolve the issue. Any IS pilots can then be discreetly drugged and have a few simple memories of generic combat implanted into their minds... And before you ask, we have perfected that treatment in the time since the Gospel incident." Maya explained.

"That's good to hear... Thank you." Ichika replied, realizing that he hadn't even sat down in the time it took for the conversation to finish.

"Have a nice day, Orimura-kun... And please, be careful. We don't know who the infiltrator is, and they may try something drastic now that their first plan has failed." Maya warned as he turned to leave.

"You too, Yamada-san, and I will be careful. I will report any suspicious activity to you." He replied, before opening the door and walking out.

* * *

Madoka sighed as she landed at the rendezvous point, stowing away the Silent Zephyrs and giving Autumn's limp body a disgusted glare as it fell into her arms. A look around told her that she was not alone.

"A pity, but such is the price of failure." Squall muttered as Madoka walked up to where she stood beside their escape car.

"She's dead. Bled out on the trip back." Madoka replied, all but throwing the corpse into the trunk of the car once Squall opened it.

"And Arachne? Was it secured?" Squall asked.

"No. Her IS suit's core section was cut off along with her leg, and the core promptly self-destructed. Arachne is gone." Squall was quiet for a few moments after hearing that, before she sighed.

"Very well then, get in the car." Squall ordered, and Madoka complied, clambering into the back seat and leaving a few bloodstains on the leather. Squall sat down beside her a minute later, before ordering the driver to take them back to their cell's headquarters.

"Consider this your lucky day, M. In light of Autumn's death and my sister's deep-cover assignment, you are being promoted. You are now the second in command of Sakura cell." Madoka nodded at that but did not speak, instead allowing Squall to continue.

"With Autumn dead, I have submitted a request for additional personnel. Hopefully, we will get some more competent operatives with the next batch. Depending on how well you stack up against them, you might even keep your new rank." Squall finished.

"Thank you. I will not disappoint." Madoka replied, more because it was the correct thing to say than out of any real desire to please her superior.

"I should hope not, or you might be riding in Autumn's seat next time. Now, explain to me exactly what the hell went wrong out there." Squall ordered, and Madoka nodded.

"Autumn entered the academy with no issues, and while I was personally unable to observe her, she spent several hours trying unsuccessfully to make contact with the target and abduct him according to the communications I had with her." Madoka explained, before pausing and getting her next few memories in order.

"Go on."

"Around three o'clock, Autumn reported that she was about to make her move, and ordered me to launch Golems and prepare to provide cover for her extraction. I promptly launched and was over the target five minutes later. At that point in time, Autumn was not in sight, and my force was promptly engaged by multiple IS representative candidates. After a short period of combat, I spotted Autumn down in one of the academy arenas, where she had taken several students hostage. Apparently, our target had managed to escape whatever plan she had for him."

"What happened next?"

"About eight minutes after I first penetrated IS Academy airspace, I detected a supersonic IS launch. I believe it was that new Japanese fourth-generation machine, the Byakushiki, with my target controlling it. Apparently, it has the ability to ignore IS shields and boost its speed significantly, which allowed our target to deliver a lethal strike to Autumn by catching her unawares. After delivering the strike, the target immediately stowed away his IS. Immediately afterwards, I disengaged from combat and entered the arena with the intent to assess the situation, retrieve Autumn, recover Arachne, and if possible capture the target. Unfortunately, I was unable to recover the Arachne due to the damage it had sustained, Autumn was already bleeding out, and the older Sarashiki had followed me, making it impossible to capture the target. As such, I grabbed Autumn and retreated, leaving the remaining Golems behind to cover my escape." Madoka finished.

"How could Autumn have possibly managed to allow that boy to escape her?" Squall finally asked.

"I don't know. Arachne's pilot armor was retrieved intact, so maybe the helmet camera survived. If it did, that would certainly help with identifying just what went wrong." Madoka replied.

"Once we arrive at headquarters, you are to check for the helmet camera footage. If it exists, remove it and go through to see just how the hell she was able to botch such a simple operation so badly. If it does not, remove all remaining pieces of Arachne and toss the body into the incinerator." Squall ordered.

"Understood." Madoka replied, before turning to look out of the window. Although her face betrayed no emotion, her mind was deep in thought with regards to recent events. She would have had to be blind to not notice how infatuated Autumn was with Squall, and she had seen Squall visit her underling's room in the middle of the night. She had also heard what usually happened immediately afterward, and knew that the result was Autumn following Squall's every command with a certain blind devotion that only the lovesick could possibly possess.

Squall had in turn just repaid that devotion by not shedding a tear upon seeing Autumn's corpse, followed by a casual order to toss the woman's body out with the rest of the trash for incineration. Madoka had already known that Squall didn't care much about her subordinates, but she had thought that Autumn was special in some regard.

Of course, that brought up the issue of how Squall would keep her in line now. Before, Squall had Autumn's blind loyalty, and the two of them together kept Madoka in check. Now, without Autumn to back her up, Squall would have to secure her loyalty in a different way. Perhaps that promotion was a part of it, Madoka mused. Maybe Squall was planning on giving her power over others, and in exchange she would be the loyal subordinate.

For a while, Madoka considered the pros and cons of such an arrangement. On one hand, she would finally have some degree of control over others, and she had to suppress a smile at the thought. On the other hand, she would still be subservient to Squall, and would be subject to whatever treatment the older woman deemed fit. For a few minutes, she debated the merits of killing Squall and usurping her position as a cell commander. All such thoughts vanished once she remembered that Squall's father was now the second highest individual in the Phantom Task hierarchy. No, Madoka mused, she would have to deal with being Squall's underling for a while longer.

Soon, they had arrived at Sakura headquarters, and Madoka quickly unloaded Autumn's corpse from the car's trunk. Hoisting it into the air with a pair of her suit's drones, she made her way over to the disposal room.

As it turned out, the helmet camera footage had survived, and Madoka quickly removed it, along with the other pieces of her former superior's inert IS suit. With them out of the way, Madoka finally had a chance to look at the woman's body. One leg had been cut clean off and the other had fallen off during the flight to the rendezvous point, leaving Autumn's body without its bottom half. The stumps were partially cauterized, although Autumn's thrashing had reopened the injury and allowed the blood to come pouring out almost immediately after it was inflicted. Her face was still twisted into an image of shock and pain, and Madoka smiled at the image.

"You died as you lived... Like a fucking bitch." She muttered, before hucking the body into the incinerator. Then, she took the Arachne's helmet and began preparing to go through the footage of the suit's last battle.

* * *

Sure enough, two days later Ichika found himself sitting in the crowded IS Academy auditorium, waiting for Tatenashi to appear on stage. Although the two of them were still sharing a room, he had hardly seen her over the past few days, and while her bed appeared to have been used every morning he had yet to see her enter or leave the room.

Finally, the girl in question made her appearance, walking up to the podium without her usual cheer.

"Good morning students. As student council president, it is my duty to inform you all about the upcoming squadron tournament that will be taking place in ten days' time." Excited and nervous whispers broke out among the assembled students as they digested that piece of information. Tatenashi paused for a moment, before hitting a button and bringing up a topographical view of the Habomai and Shikotan islands. A large rectangle of the map was highlighted in red.

"The combat zone is approximately three and a half thousand square kilometers, enclosed within a rectangle with dimensions approximately equal to eighty by forty-five kilometers. Due to the presence of several local settlements, the northern half of Shikotan island is considered a no-fly zone, and is not included within the combat arena. Leaving the combat zone is grounds for immediate disqualification." Tatenashi paused in her explanation and advanced the presentation, highlighting a green zone roughly in the center of the rectangle. A single relatively large island, Taraku-to, lay within that zone, along with three small clusters of tiny islets.

"The objective of this tournament will be as follows: an objective item, called the flag, will be hidden on an island within this green zone." As Tatenashi spoke, a red and blue circle appeared on Habomai and Shikotan respectively, each circle being centered between five appropriately colored chevrons. Colored arrows then extended from both circles, meeting in the center zone.

"This will be a battle between two squadrons, one starting at Shikotan and the other on Habomai. The first team to locate the flag and bring it back to their starting point will be considered the victor. Alternatively, a team can win by completely eliminating the entire opposing squadron." After Tatenashi finished, another set of arrows went back from the objective zone to each team's starting point.

"However, it will also be possible to recharge disabled IS suits and bring them back into the fight at each squadron's respective starting point, provided that you can carry the downed IS back to the point." Ichika couldn't help but grin as Tatenashi continued to explain the rules. This tournament would not just be a test of a squadron's technology and combat prowess, it would also require careful tactical planning to win. Any visiting VIPs would certainly be pleased.

"In addition, the IS Engineering students of the Tokyo Institute of Technology have graciously elected to provide us with a wide variety of items intended to enhance the tactical options available to each squadron. A full list of these items, along with the rules for bringing them with you into the tournament, is included as part of a larger tournament rules document that will soon be mailed to you all. You will have a chance to see these items in action during the demonstration tomorrow, the time of which will be included in the tournament documentation." At that, several images were shown in rapid succession, including a gun turret of some sort, a small UAV and what appeared to be an electronic warfare package of some kind.

"I encourage you all to read over the document and study the map of the engagement zone before you begin making plans for the tournament. This event will be the first to count towards the IS Academy squadron leaderboard, so if you care at all about your standing at this academy you will take this event seriously." The whispering in the room grew more excited as Tatenashi mentioned the leaderboard.

"This tournament is expected to last for at least a week. This means that all participating students will be staying in the city of Nemuro when not actively participating in the tournament. We have made appropriate reservations at the Kotohira Hotel. The day to day plans for the event are as follows: all students scheduled to fight on a given day will take the bus to Cape Nosappu. Upon arrival, students will wait until called, at which point they will compete. For spectating purposes, all students will be issued a single holo-projector linked to the tournament observation drone network. This projector is to be returned in the same condition that it was issued. Upon completion of the day's scheduled matches, students will return to Nemuro. From that point, you have the rest of the time until curfew to yourselves. Curfew is at ten o'clock PM, and any student caught out after that time may face disciplinary action. Any questions?" Tatenashi finished. For a few moments, nobody spoke. Then, Lily Mallory spoke up, asking a question that Ichika was certain had to be at the back of many minds.

"In light of the recent attack on IS Academy, will there be any security measures in place to prevent such an event from recurring?" Ichika could have heard a pin drop in the resulting silence, the memory of the attack still fresh in everyone's mind.

"I am glad you asked. Security has been stepped up from the original plans for the event. The edges of the tournament zone will be patrolled by academy instructors at all times, and no fewer than four IS suits will always be on station over Nemuro. At least four more will escort the bus to and from Cape Nosappu, where they will patrol for as long as necessary. Chitose Air Base is also nearby, and the JSDF will have fighters on station there for the duration of the tournament. These fighters include the latest generation of Japanese combat aircraft, which will be capable of responding to any threat in under ten minutes. Finally, the JMSDF will have ships patrolling the seas around the area, and will be ready to both engage hostile targets and conduct search and rescue operations as needed. As you can see, security at this event is being taken extremely seriously." Tatenashi replied. Her response stirred up a mixture of nervous and relieved chatter.

"Thank you." Lily replied.

"Any other questions?" Tatenashi asked. When none came, she smiled.

"Very well then, you are all dismissed. The tournament bracket should be on display in the cafeteria by now. Plan wisely." With those words, the students began to file out of the auditorium, although Ichika stayed behind. Finally, when the last student left, he walked up to the podium.

"Have you been getting enough sleep?" He asked Tatenashi as he clambered onto the stage.

"What does it look like?" Tatenashi replied, and indeed at such a close distance he could easily see the signs of exhaustion.

"Damn... They're really overworking you, aren't they." Ichika replied, to which Tatenashi sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's part of the job. I signed up for it, and I knew what I was getting into. It's always like this before tournaments. I just wish that..." She trailed off.

"Don't worry. We will not let it happen again." Ichika replied.

"I know. I will make sure of it..." Tatenashi replied, before suppressing a yawn.

"I'm sorry Ichika, but this week has been pretty exhausting for me. If you don't mind, I'm going to go get some... sleep." This time, she did not bother hiding her yawn.

"If you need anything, call me." Ichika replied, and Tatenashi gave him a smile before turning and walking out of the auditorium.

With nothing else to do, Ichika decided to head down to the cafeteria and figure out just who he was going up against first. The giant room was crowded by the time he came in, with what appeared to be every single student in the school clamoring for a peek at the giant hologram that had been projected against the wall opposite the entrance.

"Hey! Ichika!" Lily's voice caught his attention, and he turned to see her walking up to him. In the time since she had first arrived at IS Academy, she had made several modifications to her standard school uniform. For starters, she had taken to leaving her uniform's top button undone, revealing both her generous cleavage and just a hint of black lace. She had also elected to wear the shortest skirt available, leaving her black stockings and garters out for him to see.

"Looks like my squadron is facing yours in the coming tournament, and pretty early on too!" She announced as she drew closer. Her attire, coupled with how she stood, meant that it didn't take a genius to see that she held at least some interest in him. As usual, however, Ichika ignored any thoughts to that effect. He hardly knew her, after all.

"Really? I am looking forward to it, then." He replied, making a mental note to examine her squadron in more detail.

"Same! Just don't expect me to go easy on you." Lily replied, a confident smile on her face.

"I would be insulted if you did." Ichika replied.

"Say, Ichika... Why don't we make a bet? If I win, you have to buy me dinner somewhere nice... Like a date!" Lily's proposal caused Ichika's eye to twitch as he remembered the last time he was caught in such a bet.

"Nope. I'm sorry, but I'm not keen on opening that particular can of worms again." He replied, before looking around to see who else had heard.

"Oh... Oh well, I'll expect a good fight anyway. See you later!" With those parting words, Lily turned and walked away, quickly disappearing into the crowd.

"Ichika-san! We saved you a spot!" Cecilia's voice drew his attention a moment later, and he quickly spotted her sitting down at one of the tables, her squadron clustered around her. The rest of the girls and their squadrons were also there, and they waved as he approached.

"Hello, how is everyone?" He asked as he took a seat.

"So, who are you facing?" Rin asked in response, her voice eager.

"Lily Mallory. She's pretty new to IS Academy, and hasn't fought in any tournaments. That means I don't know anything about her IS suit's capabilities, nor do I know anything about her squadron's equipment. For all intents and purposes, she's a wildcard. What about you?" Ichika replied.

"Well, I'm facing some third year from Finland, Mari Tuomainen. Shouldn't be too much of a problem." Rin answered.

"Don't get cocky, Rin. Looking at her history, Mari seems to be a pretty good pilot. Plus, she does have more experience than you." Laura cautioned.

"It's not just her piloting skills that matter. If she's a good pilot but a bad commander, she will lose." Cecilia replied.

"We will see. Regardless, I suggest not being over-confident going into the battle." Laura replied.

"What about you, Laura? Who are you facing?" Ichika asked.

"Tina Hamilton. She's the American representative." Laura replied.

"Wait, Tina? She's my roommate!" Rin exclaimed.

"Oh really? You should introduce us sometime." Laura replied.

"As for me, I'm going up against someone named Lise Svennigsen... Don't know much about her yet, but I'll have a few tricks up my sleeve that she won't be expecting." Cecilia replied, a smile on her face.

"What kind of tricks?" Charlotte and Rin asked in unison.

"Well, with the recent loss of the Silent Zephyrs, some of the tech originally destined for that suit was redesigned to fit onto the Blue Tears. The Azure Rain package is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, and I look forward to testing it out. If it can do half of what the engineers claim it can, the Blue Tears can be reclassified as a 3.5th generation IS." Cecilia replied.

"Congratulations, Cecilia! Of course, you're not the only one getting an upgrade for the tournament." Charlotte commented.

"Oh really? What are you getting?" Cecilia asked.

"Aero Infini finally finished their upgrade package for my Revive. The Raphael Rebirth package should improve everything across the board." Charlotte replied.

"That's good to hear, Charlotte. So, who are you facing?" Ichika asked.

"Leang Halim, she's the representative candidate from Indonesia. Not sure about her capabilities yet, but she will definitely be surprised by mine." Charlotte replied.

"What about you, Houki-san? You haven't told us who you were facing yet!" Cecilia asked.

"Another first-year, her name is Ioana Dalca. I've seen her fight once, during the first tournament of the year, but I don't know anything about her squadron." Houki replied. With that, there was only one girl at the table who hadn't yet stated who she was fighting.

"What about you, Kanzashi? Who are you up against?" Ichika asked.

"Shirone Isumi." The quiet girl replied, and Ichika frowned.

"You didn't." He accused.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that I ordered my AI to change the tournament lineup." Kanzashi answered, a faint smirk on her face.

"You must really want to fight her, don't you?" Charlotte asked.

"Understatement of the century." Cecilia muttered.

"I have a score to settle, and I look forward to getting it out of the way." Kanzashi replied.

"Kanzashi-san!" As if mentioning her was enough to summon her, Isumi promptly approached their table.

"What is it?" Kanzashi asked, her voice and face equally impassive.

"It seems like we are going up against each other in the first round of the tournament. I know you don't like me, and you probably want to get back at me for taking the Byakushiki from you, but-" Before she could continue, Kanzashi held up a hand.

"No. You did not take Byakushiki from me. The directors at KMD made a short-sighted and irrational decision in an attempt to generate PR for their company that promptly backfired, and instead of apologizing and returning the Byakushiki to me they went out of the way to insult and humiliate me." That caused Isumi to blink in shock.

"But-"

"I have nothing personal against you, Shirone-san. However, beating you will show the people at KMD the magnitude of their mistake. As such, I will crush you in the coming match. May the best pilot win." Kanzashi finished, and Isumi frowned.

"Yes, may the best pilot win, Sarashiki-san." She replied, before turning away and walking out of the cafeteria. For a while, the table was silent, before Charlotte spoke up.

"Anyway, I should be leaving now. I have to start discussing the match with my squadron." She said, before standing up and walking away.

"I should do the same." Laura said a moment later, before she too rose and left. One by one, the girls drifted off, leaving Ichika alone. With nothing better to do, he stood and followed their example, quickly messaging the rest of his squadron to come and meet with him in one of the library study rooms.

* * *

By the time the rest of his squadron arrived, Ichika had already set up the holoprojector in the center of the room to display a map of the tournament area, with the rules document being projected on a board at the front of the room.

"Wow, you're really going all out with all this." Theresa commented as she led the rest of the squadron into the room.

"You do want to win, right? It's my job to ensure that happens." Ichika replied.

"I wasn't complaining." Theresa replied as she took a seat, the rest of the girls following suit.

"Now, before we begin, I would like to know what you all think of this tournament." Ichika asked once they had all made themselves comfortable.

"I love it! I know it will be awesome!" Sakura exclaimed.

"It's definitely not what I was expecting when I first came here, although it definitely fits the new curriculum." Ayane added.

"I'm just glad I'm actually competing this time, instead of just sitting on the sidelines watching rep candidates fight." Theresa said, an eager smile on her face.

That just left Rei, who had elected to remain quiet. She blushed slightly and looked down once she realized the entire room's attention was focused on her.

"I... I feel like this entire tournament is one big distraction... I mean, it hasn't even been a week since the attack, and suddenly a tournament comes up? I think it's whole purpose is to take our minds off of what just happened." She finally said.

"But why is that a bad thing? I mean, I don't want to think about what happened." Sakura commented.

"How could you say that? People nearly died!" Rei replied.

"And we shouldn't let that stop us, otherwise the terrorists win! They want us to freeze up and shut down, and the only way to stop that from happening is to move on to the next big thing." Theresa said.

"What about you, Ichika? You were the target, weren't you? How do you feel about this?" Ayane asked. For a few moments, Ichika debated what to say before settling on a relatively neutral response.

"I am afraid I cannot say everything I know. However, this tournament is happening regardless of our feelings on the matter, so we might as well enjoy it and try to win it. Now, let's get on to the planning." He finally said.

"Agreed." Theresa replied.

"Agreed." Sakura echoed.

"Very well." Ayane said. Rei remained silent, but nodded nonetheless.

"Good. Now, as we all know, the new combat arena is significantly larger than what we are used to, which means a lot more flexibility when it comes to strategies we may employ. However, the way that the match is set up, both participating squadrons will be drawn towards the central zone where the flag is located. Given how it is by far the largest piece of land in the area, odds are that the flag will end up on Taraku-to, although I wouldn't put it past the instructors to hide it on one of the smaller islands in the area. Taraku-to is a relatively flat island without much in the way of tree cover, so the flag will be fairly easy to spot. What this means is that the first team to reach the island will almost certainly get the flag first, unless we can engage them and prevent them from finding and retrieving it." Ichika explained.

"So, we have to get there first is what you're saying." Theresa commented.

"Exactly. Under ideal conditions, we will be able to arrive first and start patrolling over the island while one of us goes down to look for and retrieve the flag. However, it is more likely that both squadrons will arrive over the island within seconds of each other, meaning that such a plan is not an option. As such, the most obvious solution is to have one person retrieve the flag while the other four provide cover. However, it is likely that the enemy will attempt such a tactic as well." Ichika replied.

"We don't have to retrieve the flag to win though. All we have to do is eliminate the enemy squadron." Theresa pointed out.

"Unless the enemy does something stupid like splitting their forces or committing them piecemeal to the fight, an all-out battle would be unpredictable. Moreover our opponent, Lily Mallory, is a complete wild card. I have no idea about her IS suit's capabilities. Plus, while I have seen her fly out occasionally for training flights, I have no idea what goes on during those flights. This means that all we know about her squadron is the fact that it is trained and has unknown equipment. Given how new Mallory's IS is, it is almost certainly a third-gen machine, maybe even 3.5-gen. As far as I know, the rest of her squadron is testing experimental gear, which means cutting-edge MPIS tech. This means her squadron is most likely evenly matched with ours, at least in terms of equipment. This means a direct engagement will come down to commander and pilot skill, and I don't like betting those against a complete unknown like her." Ichika replied.

"So what do we do?" Ayane asked.

"One advantage we do have are my suit's drones, which can act as a force multiplier for our squadron. Thanks to them, the Infinite Arsenal can easily match an entire squadron in terms of firepower, and if it becomes necessary, I can engage multiple enemies with them. This means the rest of you have more room to maneuver. With that in mind, I have a plan." Ichika replied, before turning to the board. While most of it was taken up by the projected rulebook, a large enough portion was open for him to start drawing.

"My proposal is that we approach the island in a variation of the formation we've been using in training matches. As usual, Theresa will fly at high altitude and provide long range fire support." As he said that, Ichika drew a single circle and designating it Theresa at the top-left corner of the board.

As for the rest of us, normally we all fly at the same altitude below Theresa, broken into two pairs that support each other. In this case, I propose that our pairs not fly at the same altitude. Instead, we have a combat pair fly at our usual altitude, while an objective pair flies low." Ichika continued, drawing two pairs of circles, one in the middle of the board and one at the bottom-right corner.

"I will fly with Sakura as part of the combat pair, and our job will be to cover the objective pair. The objective pair will be composed of Rei and Ayane, and your job will be to retrieve the flag once it is spotted. In addition, you two will be flying slightly ahead of the rest of us, and will thus serve as a sort of bait." That got him four confused stares.

"How can we get the flag if we're also bait?" Ayane asked.

"You want us to draw the entire enemy squadron down low, don't you?" Rei asked.

"Yes. By drawing the enemy down to extremely low altitude, it prevents them from being able to disengage by diving away from the fight. It also prevents anyone who is low over the island from searching for the flag, as they are in the middle of an active battle. Fortunately for you, the combat pair will be in a perfect position to engage the enemy from above. In addition, the Infinite Arsenal is capable of launching camera drones that can search for the flag even while I am in combat. Once the flag is located, retrieving it will be your job, Ayane. If you go down, it will be Rei's job, and after Rei it will be mine. The retriever will immediately attempt to disengage and go for the flag, with the rest of the squadron providing cover. We will continue to provide cover as you retreat to the base." Ichika finished. For a minute the room was silent as the rest of the girls looked over the plan, before Ayane raised her hand.

"Why do we have to retrieve the flag? Can't you just make a drone that can do it for you?" She asked.

"That... Is actually a very good idea. It shouldn't be too hard, at least." Ichika replied.

"Alright, so your drones will handle the search for and retrieval of the flag, so none of us have to bother with looking for it or trying to disengage. Still, I think that drawing the enemy squadron down low is a good idea, since it will still prevent them from being able to search for the flag themselves." Theresa said.

"What about the items we can bring in?" Sakura asked.

"That is our next order of business." Ichika replied, before scrolling through the document until he reached the list of available items.

"Alright, so every item on this list has a set point cost to bring it into the battle. Every team has exactly ten thousand points to spend each match. Now do you see anything you like?" He asked.

"Those turrets look nice." Sakura immediately pointed out.

"Shame the good one is so expensive. It's either a six-cell automated SAM system for eight thousand points, or a short-ranged automated plasma turret for five thousand." Theresa mused.

"Yeah, plus we will have to carry them into the battle and then land to deploy them, unless we're willing to pay another two thousand points for a parachute drop system." Ayane added.

"What about the enemy radio interception gear? I mean, it will cost us all our points, but it would also allow us to listen in on the other team's communications." Rei pointed out.

"It would be perfect, were it not for one key flaw in the design. The interception gear, in order to function properly, has to be attached to our opponent's IS. Any team that we use it against would thus be tipped off immediately and would either try to improvise and come up with an alternative method of communication or would try to actively feed us misinformation through such a link. With that in mind, I don't think it's worth the cost." Ichika replied.

"What about this radar drone? Four thousand points seems pretty cheap for something like this." Theresa asked.

"It says here that it has heating issues, and thus can only function for a minute at a time before needing to shut down and cool off." Ayane replied.

"But that is not that big of a problem, right? One minute is all we'll need to determine their speed, heading and altitude." Theresa replied.

"It definitely seems like a logical choice. We probably will only need one scan given how it will only take us around two minutes to go from our starting base to the center island at top speed, and I would assume that the other team would be able to manage something similar. By the time that one minute scan is over, we would already have visual contact." Rei added.

"Alright, I'll put down the radar drone as a possibility. That leaves us with six thousand points." Ichika replied, writing the choice down on the board.

"What about the plasma turret? Since we're going to go low anyway, we might as well drop it on the island to give us a bit of an edge in low altitude combat. Plus, if you're already building drones capable of carrying the flag it shouldn't be that much of a stretch to have them carry the turret." Ayane suggested.

"That thing? It only has about two kilometers of range! It can't even cover the entire island, and its damage output is pretty pathetic." Sakura replied.

"Yes, I am more interested in this laser turret. It says here that it will attempt to track and shoot down any missiles in the air within its range. While it cannot tell the difference between friendly and hostile missiles, our squadron doesn't use them so it won't backfire against us." Rei suggested.

"The biggest problem I can see with that turret is that it might try to shoot my drones down." Ichika replied.

"No, that shouldn't be a problem. It's programmed not to shoot down targets that are above a certain size in order to prevent it from targeting the camera drones that are observing the match." Rei replied.

"I will still have to test it, but unless there are any objections I will write it down." Ichika replied. When none of the girls spoke up, he did just that.

"Alright, that turret has the same price as the plasma one, which means we are down to one thousand points." Ichika replied.

"That... Isn't going to get us much. We could get a crate of ammo for Rei back at our starting point, or this electronic warfare pod that probably won't work, but I don't see much else we can get for just a thousand points." Theresa commented.

"Why won't the electronic warfare pod work?" Sakura asked.

"Because it was designed, built and programmed by college students on a shoestring budget, and we are all flying cutting-edge IS suits built by well-funded professionals who have a more in-depth understanding of the field. That pod is probably a few decades out of date in terms of capabilities." Rei replied.

"What about this charging station? I mean, my plasma cannons chew through my suit's power supply pretty fast and we might not get a break where you can recharge me." Sakura pointed out.

"It's too big to carry, so we would have to leave it back at base. That means that, in order to recharge, you would have to fly back to base, spend who knows how long recharging, and then fly back into combat. By then, the battle would likely have been decided." Rei replied.

"Wait, it says here that we get a score bonus if we manage to win without using all our points, so why don't we just leave it as it is?" Ayane suggested.

"I mean, if there's nothing worth getting for a thousand, we might as well go for the score bonus." Theresa added.

"Why not? Let's do it." Sakura said.

"Alright, I don't see any issues with that." Rei finished.

"Very well, that means our current additional item lineup is the radar drone and laser turret for nine thousand, and one thousand extra to pad our score out. Any objections?" When none came, Ichika smiled.

"Good. Any other questions?" He asked.

"Yes... What do we do if... I-If there is another attack?" Rei asked hesitantly. Ichika frowned, but did not reply for several moments. Finally, he came to a decision.

"Rei, if there is another attack, they are almost certainly there for me. This means that, in the event of another attack, you four are to disengage immediately and fly as quickly as possible back to safety. Do not try to engage them, as they will not hesitate to kill anyone they don't want alive. Understood?" Rei nodded at that, an action that was mirrored by the rest of the girls. For a moment, Theresa looked like she was about to ask something, but that moment passed and she evidently decided against it.

"Alright then, this meeting is adjourned. Does anyone else feel like going down to restaurant row? My treat." Ichika asked, trying and failing to lift the mood.

* * *

Autumn's chair was comfy, Madoka mused as she sat down across from Squall. A hologram of several islands just north of Hokkaido was displayed between them.

"It's nice to see you being punctual, M. You seem to be taking your role as my second seriously, at least. Now, on to business. My sister just reported in, claiming a potential capture opportunity. Apparently, a large-scale IS tournament is going to take place just off of Cape Nosappu." Squall began.

"So soon?" Madoka asked.

"Yes, apparently they are trying to continue with business as usual. Unfortunately, we do not currently have the resources to capture our target." Squall replied, and multiple red zones appeared on the holo-map.

"These represent the probable patrol zones of hostile military forces, which include destroyers armed for anti-submarine warfare, IS suits, and fighters. Simply put, while I can think of a way that we can penetrate the airspace to go after our target, we would not be able to subdue and extract with him before reinforcements arrive in overwhelming numbers. As such, capture of your brother is out of the question." Squall finished.

"So what is the plan?" Madoka asked, genuinely curious.

"Patience, M, I was just about to tell you." Squall replied, before zooming out the map. A large red circle appeared a moment later, covering much of the islands north of Japan.

"We know that Code Black is operating out of a base located within this zone, probably from within the Kuril islands themselves. I intend to use this opportunity to try and find their base's exact location. To that end, I have requisitioned a stealth reconnaissance UAV capable of extremely high altitude flight. It will act as the spotter for this operation." A solitary dot appeared high above the hologram, with a green cone indicating the UAV's field of vision.

"Your role, M, will be critical to the success of this mission. You will attack the tournament at a time of your choosing and act as a diversion in order to provoke the Code Black base into launching their interceptors. Our drone will track them as they launch, and transmit the location to us." That caused Madoka to blink. Before she could say anything, Squall continued.

"This will be your first solo mission, M. Consider it a test of your ability. Now, you will not be able to penetrate the patrol zone conventionally for obvious reasons. Instead, your infiltration plan will be as follows: You will take off alongside the drone from mainland Russia and climb to an altitude of around one hundred kilometers. Once you have reached the specified altitude, you will proceed to escort the drone to the target area, where you will then proceed to loiter. In order to reduce chances of detection, the Silent Zephyrs will be painted with radar absorbent material. Understood?" Madoka nodded, allowing Squall to continue.

"While airborne, you will be receiving weather data on the target area, and whenever it is clear you are free to engage at your discretion. However, your brother's matches are off limits, as something tells me they will be expecting us to target him. Upon deciding on a match to intervene in, you are to stow away your IS keeping only your weather shield deployed. You will proceed to free-fall your way into the target zone and deploy your IS at an altitude of approximately twenty thousand meters. This will give them plenty of time to detect you on radar and scramble fighters." So far, this was shaping up to be a suicide mission.

"As soon as I am able to confirm Code Black fighter launches, you are to immediately disengage and extract. You will do so by faking your defeat and ADS activation, before falling into the ocean. This means you have to take a few hits during the actual diversionary battle. Your Silent Zephyrs is incapable of underwater combat, but it can still move underwater at a respectable pace. You are to dive as deep as you can before heading south towards Kushiro, where a nice beach resort has just opened up. Its owner happens to be on our payroll, so you will be able to leave the ocean and enter the city without issue. Assuming you do a good job and the mission is successful, I will even give you a few days to enjoy yourself there."

Oh, so that was Squall's way of ensuring her loyalty. Madoka took a second to think it over, before deciding that the mission was happening either way, but she might as well get a vacation out of the deal.

"Understood." She replied.

"Oh, and one more thing..." Squall said, standing up and walking over to her.

"Unfortunately, the Silent Zephyrs does not have pilot armor, so your pilot suit would be easily recognizable. You would look too suspicious in that thing, even if you use the crowds at the resort to camouflage your appearance. I hope you know your sizes, M, because tomorrow we're going swimsuit shopping."

"U-Understood..." Madoka replied, unsure of what else to say.

"Good. I expect you to be ready by 10:00 sharp tomorrow." Squall replied, before walking out of the room.

* * *

 **A/N: Finally, it is done. Now for my usual commentary.**

 **Firstly, this chapter contains the inevitable Chifuyu confession scene, which went through a lot of different iterations before I decided on its current one. These iterations ranged from unrealistic, such as Chifuyu busting out her old IS and flying straight to the Organization base, to a generic angry reaction. Ultimately I decided on a more unusual approach of acceptance, where Chifuyu has her worst fears allayed and realizes that her brother is both on the same side as her and is fighting to make a difference. Given how even in canon she is likely grooming him to join her secret organization, I would not consider such a reaction to be out of character.**

 **Next up is the scene with Maya. One thing I wanted to avoid in this scenario was the oblivious adult cliche, where absolutely noone in the Organization's strategic planning department would have thought of providing protection for the tournament until it is suggested by the protagonist. Instead, the people whose job it is to plan the Organization's actions had the idea and were already preparing to implement it before Ichika came to Maya with the suggestion. Hell, they were probably planning it even before Autumn attacked IS Academy.**

 **Now we come to the tournament, which was originally supposed to be a more standard capture the flag match with both squadrons having flags of their own stored at their respective starting points. Unfortunately, after inspecting the battlefield in Google Earth, I realized that such a plan would run the risk of generating collateral damage on Shikotan Island, which has several settlements in its northern half for a combined population in the low thousands. As such, I revised the tournament to have a single flag located on Taraku-to, which is completely uninhabited. I also understand that those islands are currently under Russian control, but a lot can change in several decades and this fic has Japan acquire the islands shortly before the civil war.**

 **This will be the first squadron tournament I will write, and it will also serve to introduce the first of the 3.5-gen upgrade packages I have planned for the girls in the form of Cecilia's Azure Rain package and Charlotte's Raphael Rebirth upgrade. I look forward to showcasing them. The Kanzashi-Isumi grudge match will be happening as well, along with the long-awaited reveal of Lily's IS and Byakushiki's altered combat capabilities.**

 **In addition, the large scale of the tournament means that I have had to dig into my stash of OC Squadron submissions much earlier than originally planned. With that in mind, I would like to congratulate AzureTemplar3535 and Warmach1ne32, whose OC squadrons will be making their first appearances. This will almost certainly not be the last time they appear either, given the amount of detail that was put into them. Ioana Dalca, along with her squadron, was created by AzureTemplar3535, while Leang Halim and her squadron was made by Warmach1ne32.**

 **Madoka has also gotten a fair bit of time in the spotlight this chapter, having received a promotion now that Autumn has been declared dead. I am still not quite sure about writing her character, so feedback would be appreciated. I do look forward to writing more of her though.**

 **As always, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: I'd love to say that this chapter was delayed due to me wanting to polish and perfect it, but the truth is that I've had exams, bought the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series, and gotten back into Planetside 2.**

* * *

 **Chapter 25**

Lily hadn't been lying when she said that their match was early, Ichika mused as he stifled a yawn. The sun had technically risen, but the heavy cloud cover made it seem as though it was still night. He almost felt sorry for the many students who would be flying later that day, as they would almost certainly be dealing with heavy rain, wind and maybe even lightning.

"Did they really have to send us out so early?" Sakura griped from the seat beside him. They were currently on a bus destined for their launch point at Cape Nosappu, along with five other squadrons.

"They've got a ton of matches to go through, and they're trying to finish this in under two weeks. Makes sense for them to start early and end late." Theresa muttered from across the aisle.

"Looks like we're just about there." Ayane spoke up from the seat behind him. Ichika twisted around and saw her pointing at a tall, white tower. Sure enough, less than a minute later the bus pulled into the parking lot at Bokyonomisaki Park, which was illuminated by an array of portable floodlights. Their light revealed several large blue tarps set up over a wide array of turrets and drones, sheltering them and the technicians working on them from the coming storm.

Another pavilion, this one white, had been erected some distance away, sheltering a mix of IS Academy students and curious locals as they watched the currently ongoing match. Ichika tried to make out the details on the screen, but before he could catch more than a quick glance the bus pulled up alongside another, hiding the screen from view.

"Alright, everyone out!" Ichika stood at that, along with every other student onboard. One by one they exited the bus, and immediately found that their academy-issue pilot suits offered very poor protection against the cold winds blowing outside. As for Ichika, the cold struck him briefly before he remembered to activate his suit's climate control system. Designed to keep a pilot from freezing in the event of them being shot down in polar climates, it handled the current weather with ease.

"H-H-How d-do you a-a-activate the h-heating on t-this?" Rei asked through chattering teeth.

"Controls are on your wrist. The button marked with the campfire activates heating." Ichika replied, and his squadmate gave an audible sigh of relief a moment later.

"W-Wait, these suits get heating?" Ayane exclaimed, before pressing the button in question.

"Yep, they're heated." She said a moment later.

"Wait, your suits have heating?" One of the nearby girls exclaimed.

"D-Dammit Lily, why did we have to draw the s-short straw when it came to experimental p-pilot suits?" Another girl, evidently part of Lily's squadron, complained a moment later. Evidently, another company had attempted to follow WSI's example, although judging by the girl's words they were not nearly as successful.

"Come on, we should go and watch the ongoing matches." Theresa said before he could investigate any further, and soon enough he found himself under the pavilion. The match in question was rather unremarkable, its only known characteristic being that both participating squadrons lacked representative candidates. Fortunately for them, they had lucked out and managed to secure corporate sponsorships, although Ichika did not recognize the names of the companies shown on the screen.

The battle ended a minute later, after all the competitors had run out of ammunition and resorted to IS fisticuffs. As soon as the final blow was struck, Ichika spotted a series of flashes out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he was just able to spot the force of instructors taking off to retrieve downed IS pilots.

"Squadrons 022 and 119, you're up next. Be ready to launch as soon as the instructors return." At that, ten of the girls who had been on the bus with him stood and ran out towards a large concrete plaza, a good portion of which was occupied by a decorative arch of some sort. There, they deployed their IS suits, and much like the squadron before them they only had Blank Slates. One team had gone with a fairly normal black and red paint job, and while such a paint job would normally stick out like a sore thumb, Ichika reckoned that it would work surprisingly well among the thick clouds that were just barely illuminated by the rising sun.

As for the other squadron, they had clearly taken a cue from old dazzle camouflage and painted their suits with a zebra stripe pattern that was slightly painful to look at. He wasn't sure how effective such a scheme would be, but evidently the suits' operators thought so.

Shortly after deploying, the pilots exited their suits and headed over to one of the technicians' pavilions, where a turret and a large crate were being loaded onto a pair of carrying palettes. At the same time, two drones were being towed onto a large road, their technicians casting nervous glances at the sky. Eventually, they were positioned on either side of a grassy barrier, their noses pointed towards the nearby ocean.

Soon, the instructors began to fly back in, most of them carrying Blank Slates but a few carried large crates and one had a turret with her. The last thing to return to the island was a drone, which circled the park once before performing a vertical landing in the parking lot. A pair of technicians promptly ran out to tow it back to the maintenance tent.

Finally, a loud whistle sounded out and the two squadrons scrambled into their IS suits. A second whistle, and the drones began to accelerate down their makeshift runway. As they pitched up and began to gather altitude, a third whistle sounded out, and the two squadrons took off. A few minutes later, the theater screen flickered to life again, several technicians running over to watch the match as it did so.

"Starting over Habomai and calling themselves the Bloody Fangs, it's Squadron 022! They are sponsored by Edge Precision Industries and certainly look eager to make their combat debut!" The announcer was definitely a student and her voice was somewhat familiar to Ichika, but his focus was more on the panning shot of five black and red IS suits that was now playing out on the screen. Having skipped the first few matches in order to catch an extra hour of sleep, this was the first match he would be able to watch from start to finish. The Bloody Fangs were all armed identically, carrying some sort of IS-sized rifle, along with what appeared to be some sort of retractable tonfa blades on their arms.

"And over Shikotan, we have the Zebras with Big Guns, also known as Squadron 119! Their sponsor is the Edwin Kowalski foundation, and they look like they'd be a tough fight for anyone!" Now, the camera panned over the other team, their distinctive dazzle camouflage making them stand out even in the dim light. Each IS was equipped with a pair of large cannons, one on each arm. A mace strapped to each suit's thigh ensured that they wouldn't be helpless in close combat.

Both squadrons certainly looked well equipped, but Ichika did not recognize either of the makers of their weapons. That meant he couldn't be sure of their quality.

"And now, let the match... BEGIN!" The announcer shouted, and both squadrons sprang into motion. Thankfully there was a top-down map of the battlefield displayed in the bottom corner of the screen, as otherwise keeping track of the squadrons' positions would have been very difficult with the poor lighting and the camera constantly switching between teams.

"Enemy sighted. Time to hunt." The leader of the Bloody Fangs spoke up, her words being transmitted to both her squadron and to the audience. Her squadron raised their rifles and, as one, dove for Taraku-to. Four of them were flying unencumbered, but the squadron leader lagged behind. Somehow, she had managed to lash a large crate of ammunition to her back while tying a turret carrying harness to her legs, leaving her IS suit's arms free to engage in combat but severely hampering her agility.

"Zebra Lead here, activating radar drone... Shit, they're above us! Range is... Fuck it, fire! Fire! Fire!" Immediately, the five zebra-striped IS suits pointed their guns up and opened fire, although it was obvious that while they knew the approximate location of their opponents, they hadn't actually spotted them.

"They've opened fire. Weapons free." The Bloody Fangs' commander's words were punctuated by the shells airbursting all around them, although few were coming close enough to even pose a threat. As she spoke, her squadron took aim and opened fire. So far they had shown impressive coordination, but the battle had only just started.

The Bloody Fangs' rifles had a high fire rate, but it was almost immediately apparent that it came at a price. One of them barely fired three shots before jamming up, and judging by how its pilot was swearing it was not an easy problem to fix. In addition, their muzzle flashes illuminated their position, and the Zebras immediately focused their fire. Where before the airbursting cannons were barely a problem, they were now a lethal threat. A set of lucky hits and near-misses sent one Fang tumbling out of the sky, and the rest broke formation almost immediately. This left the Fangs' leader alone, as her over-encumbered IS was an easy target. The turret she was carrying sparked a moment later as it took a hit. Its ADS activated immediately, removing it from the match. A moment later, its carrier extended one of its arm-mounted blades and sliced through the cables holding it in place. All the while, the narrator gave her own opinion on the events of the match.

"God fucking dammit, not again!" One of the technicians swore behind him as the turret tumbled towards the island below.

"Let's hope it didn't land in the ocean again." Another one muttered.

The camera had just switched back to Zebra squadron when a bright flash of light briefly lit up the darkened sky. A few seconds later, the camera shook slightly.

"Woohoo! Nice shot!" One of the Zebra pilots exclaimed. It took Ichika a few moments to piece together what had happened, but it all came together when Bloody Fang squadron started calling out for their leader.

Evidently, one of the airbursting shots hit the ammunition crate that the Bloody Fangs' leader was hauling, and promptly set off all the ammunition packed inside. The resulting explosion was an instant kill on the IS carrying it.

With their commander gone and the numerical advantage in the hands of their opponents, the Bloody Fangs did not last for much longer. While the Zebras ran out of ammunition shortly after taking out the Fangs' commander, they were able to quickly resupply thanks to the ammunition drone they had taken with them.

"Squadrons 007 and 298, you're up next. Be ready to launch as soon as the instructors return." Ichika looked around to see the rest of his squadron, along with Lily's, standing up. Lily's squadron had been smart enough to bring coats to shelter them from the cold, but now they had to strip them off. Once he saw what was underneath, however, Ichika realized exactly how that squadron had drawn the short straw.

Technically, the skin-tight suits the other squadron was wearing covered more than the standard Academy Issue suits, they somehow also managed to be more revealing at the same time. They were certainly much worse than his own suits, as while those were also skin tight, they were also thick enough to hide the fine details of their wearer.

Shaking his head, he turned to Theresa and ordered her to acquire the items their squadron had agreed upon, namely the anti-missile laser turret and the radar drone.

Lily turned to face him once they reached the launch point, and thanks to the floodlights he was able to make out every detail of her suit... As well as a good portion of what lay beneath. Unlike the rest of her squadron the blonde showed no sign of being affected by the cold, and instead extended her hand to him.

"May the best squadron win." She said, smiling as he completed the handshake. Upon contact with the suit, he noted the presence of thin wires beneath the fabric.

"Yes. Good luck." He replied. Then, both to avoid embarrassing himself and to get ready for the coming match, he deployed his IS. Lily turned and walked a few steps away before doing the same, and Ichika contemplated flying to America and strangling the pervert who thought that making three quarters of an IS pilot suit out of transparent fabric was a good idea.

A moment later, he shoved those thoughts to the side and began to inspect the opposing squadron's IS suits. Lily's squadmates seemed primarily oriented around ranged combat, as each of their Blank Slates carried a large rotary cannon on one arm and a three-cell missile launcher on one shoulder. A round pod that looked like a radome was placed on the other shoulder, and in their free hand they carried what looked to be some sort of machete with a revolver built into its hilt.

Lily's IS, on the other hand, was a totally different matter. Much like Ichika, she had only deployed the frame of her IS suit while keeping her weapons stowed away. As such, the most distinctive features of the bright red-orange suit were its oversized wings. Looking closer, he was able to see small lines along the leading edge of the wing, potentially indicating covers for launchers of some sort.

Then his eyes were drawn lower by the armor that completely encased the suit's pilot, and he immediately knew that the IS in front of him was meant for real combat.

"Well, we now have some idea of what we're facing. Any ideas?" Ayane asked, just as Theresa ran back up to them and deployed her own IS.

"If my guess is correct and those are radars, they will probably see us first. That means we activate the radar drone immediately, not a minute in as we originally planned. Theresa, any idea what they are bringing?" He replied.

"They're bringing three drones with them. Spot Jammer, Ammo and Battery." Ichika frowned beneath his helmet.

"The jammer drone could disable our laser turret and our radar drone. Do you know if they are set to the same frequency?" He asked.

"Yeah, the guys back there told me that both the turret and our radar drone operate on the same frequency, and I would wager that the jammer drone does as well." Ichika nodded.

"Alright, do you know what the jammer drone looks like?" He asked.

"Yes. I assume you want me to take it out?" She asked in turn.

"Exactly. The sooner you take it out, the sooner our laser turret can get to work." Ichika replied, just as said turret was wheeled out onto the concrete.

"Alright, who is carrying this?" The technician beside it asked.

"I will take care of it." Ichika replied, making no move towards the turret. After a few moments, the technician shrugged and ran back towards his pavilion. Ichika absentmindedly noted that it had started to rain.

A few minutes passed before the Zebra squadron flew in, each member holding a disabled IS in its arms. Instructors brought the last two in, along with the dropped turret.

The first whistle came, although both squadrons were already in their IS suits. The second whistle came a few moments later, and the four drones began to take off, one at a time. Finally, the third whistle sounded out and Lily's squadron roared into the air, heading towards their assigned starting point over Shikotan island. Only then did Ichika deploy his carrier drones, which promptly grabbed hold of the laser turret's carrier palette and hauled it into the air. With that taken care of, Ichika engaged his suit's thrusters and shot into the air, his squadron following right behind him as they headed off to Habomai.

Given how it was the closer island, Archer Squadron had to wait for several minutes while their opponents reached their starting points.

"You all remember the plan, right?"

"We do." The four girls chorused.

"Good. Theresa, stay just below those clouds. If it comes down to it, you might be able to hide yourself in them. Rei, Ayane, stay low and make sure the carrier drones reach the island. Once they drop the turret off, they will begin searching for the flag. While they do so, you two are to engage any suits that dive too low. Keep them away from the island, and hopefully they will think that we're trying to turn this into a deathmatch and stop going for the objective. Also, if any of you see the ammo drone or the jammer drone, take it out immediately. I noticed that their Blank Slates have rotary cannons and not much in the way of ammunition reserves, so they will blow through their ammo very fast. If that happens and we can take out their ammo drone, all their cannons become dead weight."

"What about Lily? Know anything about her suit?" Rei asked.

"No, but if it comes down to it I believe I can handle her."

"Let the match... BEGIN!" Before any response could come, the starting call came in over the radio and Archer squadron sprang into action.

"Radar is active." Theresa reported as she began her climb.

"See anything?" Ayane asked as she dove towards the ocean.

"I... Yes! They just popped up! They're at the edge of the radar range, but they're moving in fast."

"What's their altitude?" Ichika asked.

"Hmm... One contact is holding steady at around three kilometers up while the other four seem to be diving. I'm also picking up their drones, which seem to be sticking to about two kilometers of altitude."

"Hmm, looks like Lily is having her squadmates rush the island while she provides top cover. Theresa, do you have a clear shot?" Ichika mused.

"I... I guess, but at this range my weapon won't do much." Theresa replied.

"Doesn't matter. Aim for the drones first, they don't have shields so one hit should be enough to knock them out of the fight." Ichika ordered.

"Roger. I'll see what I can do, but those drones might be difficult to spot." Theresa replied, before falling silent.

Not even a minute had passed before Ayane spotted the enemy.

"I see them! Four IS suits skimming the ocean dead ahead!"

"Good to hear, our radar is just about to enter its cooling period." Theresa replied.

"What about Lily?" Ichika asked.

"She was in the clouds two seconds ago, but the radar just cut out." Theresa reported.

"It did its job. Ayane, Rei, you are free to engage. Sakura and I will be right behind you."

"Roger... Wait, I think they've seen us! Enemy IS suits just started to climb- Shit! They're locking missiles!"

"Understood, reverse direction and climb towards me. Sakura, stay at your current altitude and be ready to engage as soon as they come into range." As Ichika spoke, a momentary flash of light erupted overhead.

"Scratch one drone! I think that was the ammo carrier." Theresa called out a moment later.

"Nice shot." Ichika complimented her, before pushing his suit's impulse drives to their limit and diving towards Ayane and Rei. In the distance, he was easily able to make out several missile launches.

However, while the missiles were fast, they weren't fast enough to reach their targets before they entered the radius of Ichika's point defense lasers, which made short work of them.

Another flash, and Theresa reported a second drone down.

"I think that was the jammer!"

"Good. Shift targets to the enemy Blank Slates, the battery drone is irrelevant." Ichika replied, before looking down to where his carrier drones were making their rush to the island.

"Laser turret is almost in position. Rei, rendezvous with Sakura and attack together with her. I will cover Ayane." He ordered, and his squadmate complied.

A few moments later, the first shot from Theresa hit home, its target erupting in a brief flash of light. Even before the light had faded, Ichika had already deployed his burst missile launcher and took aim, waiting several seconds for his targets to get in range before opening fire. Just over a second later, he saw the flashes of plasma warheads going off.

"Nice shot! One down, and the rest are scattering." Theresa reported.

"Good. Squadron, you have permission to fire as soon as they are in range." He replied, before swapping his missile launcher for his usual railgun and plasma cannon. He was in range a few seconds later, drawing a bead on a Blank Slate that had dove towards the ocean, away from its two squadmates who continued to climb towards the clouds.

"The laser turret has reached the island, drones are setting it down now." Ori reported as he opened fire. His first burst missed.

"Enemy radar lock!" Ori exclaimed as he fired again. Sure enough, the two climbing IS suits had taken the opportunity to fire off their remaining missiles at him. Unfortunately for them, the laser turret came online and opened fire. It took down two of the incoming warheads, while the other two came close enough to be taken care of by the Infinite Arsenal's lasers.

Ichika didn't bother to give them a second glance before he fired once more, and this time his shots made contact. His opponent's IS, already weakened by the burst missile strike, fell into the ocean after taking several direct hits.

Sakura and Theresa opened fire above him, their shots converging on the lower of the two climbing IS suits. As for the other, it had almost reached the relative safety of the cloud layer when a blinding flash, accompanied by a thunderclap shortly afterwards, sent it tumbling into the ocean.

"Holy shit, did you just see that? She just got struck by lightning!" Theresa exclaimed.

"That means it could happen to us too. Theresa, dive away from the clouds. We'll try to lure Lily in low." Ichika ordered.

"Roger, divi-" Theresa's voice suddenly cut off, replaced by static.

"Theresa? What just happened? Report!" Ichika called out, but there was no response. Cursing the tournament rules forbidding the changing of radio frequencies mid-match, he turned and looked up at his squadmate's last known position. Almost immediately, he saw her IS falling out of the sky.

"-ove you! Can you hear me?" Theresa's panicked transmission finally cut through the static a few seconds later.

"What happened?" He demanded.

"Lily came up behind me and took me out! I think she's using a cloak of some kind, as I saw her IS disappear while I was falling." Theresa replied.

"Alright, at least we know where she is. Everyone, circle up and watch the clouds." Ichika ordered.

"Roger." His three remaining squadmates chorused as they formed up on him.

About thirty seconds elapsed in silence before Ori spoke up.

"Drone Three has found the flag and I've retrieved it. Should we keep the other drones up as decoys, or should I stow them away?" She asked.

"Stow them." He replied.

"Got it. I'm sending the remaining drone back to base, ETA is two minutes and forty seconds."

"Good work." Ichika replied, but before he could relay the news to the rest of his squadron, Ayane spoke up.

"I see her! She's firing off flares and diving!" She exclaimed. Ichika pivoted around, and sure enough he was able to briefly see two wing-like plumes of fire surrounding Lily's IS before they went out.

"Fire!" The rest of his squadron were already shooting as he spoke, but before the shots could connect, Lily's IS vanished.

"Sakura, light up that area. Even if she's cloaked, she can still be hit." Sakura complied immediately, attempting to spread her fire over as much of the area as possible. However, there were no distinct flashes indicating hits on a shielded target.

"Behind us!" Ori's warning was all that allowed him to evade the surprise attack that came a few seconds later. Sakura wasn't so lucky, and her suit's shields flashed and broke under a stream of fire from what looked to be some sort of particle beam. Her IS tumbled down towards the island, having been quickly disabled.

Ichika pivoted just in time to see Lily fire off another barrage of flares and vanish in a flash of light. He knew that flash, having seen IS suits being stowed away hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

"She's not cloaking, she's hiding in IS-Space!" Ori exclaimed, having come to the same conclusion as he did.

"Behind you!" Rei exclaimed a moment later, and once again Ichika threw himself into an evasive roll, dodging a stream of gunfire as he did so. Rei attempted to return fire, but in an almost superhuman display of reflexes, Lily's suit fired off more flares and vanished, the bullets passing through empty air.

Ichika swung his IS around, raising his weapons in anticipation of another attempt at sniping him from behind.

That meant he heard, rather than saw, Lily's IS materialize directly above Ayane and deliver a powerful kick. He turned just as Lily fired off more flares, but instead of disappearing as before she accelerated towards Rei, who was still pivoting around to meet her. In that instant, Ichika was able to finally get a good look at Lily's choice of weapons.

In each hand her IS held a dagger, their blades glowing a bright orange as they met Rei's shield. Two more glowing blades stuck out of the suit's feet, although one was noticeably dimmer than the other. A large cannon was mounted on her back, and unlike most IS weapons it was aimed vertically along the suit's spine, designed to be fired when the suit was angled in a prone position rather than standing up.

He also noted that the ports on its wings were now open, and as Rei attempted to bring her gun to bear she vanished.

A split second later, she reappeared behind her target, oriented for a perfect cannon shot. Rei promptly went down.

"Ori! Drones! Now! Cover all sides!" He shouted as Lily vanished once more. As she did so, Ayane pivoted and, whether through luck or skill, one of her plasma swords slammed home as Lily reappeared. Her second and third strikes passed through empty air, and Lily reappeared behind her a moment later. Two more dagger strikes, and the match became a one-on-one duel. A moment later, Lily vanished as nearly one hundred gun drones opened fire, a storm of plasma passing through the space she had just occupied.

Not bothering to think, Ichika twisted around and rolled his IS out of the way of a cannon barrage. As expected, Lily vanished before he could bring his guns to bear. A second later, she reappeared above him, but before she could fire she was forced to evade fire from several drones.

"All angles are now covered. Sphere of fire setup complete." Ori reported, and Ichika noted that his drones were now pointing in every direction, ensuring that no matter where Lily decided to reappear, she would have at least one gun pointed at her.

As a result, he didn't even have to try to dodge her next two shots as they went wild, their shooter unable to aim properly before having to evade. She finally reappeared several kilometers away, evidently trying to buy herself time to think.

"Ori, can you analyze the system she's using to teleport?" Ichika asked as Lily kept her distance, teleporting out of the way of any shots he was firing at her. As he watched, he had to admit that, while she sometimes acted like some of the fangirls had back when he had first entered the academy, there was no doubt that she had earned her status as a representative candidate.

"I... It's no use. Every time she teleports I lose the lock! It would take weeks to finish a scan of such a complex system under these conditions!" Ori replied.

"Alright, focus on the drones for no- Woah!" He barely managed to roll out of the way as Lily reappeared nearby. However, where before she had held daggers in her hands, she now carried some sort of gun. A second later, a plume of white plasma swept through his previous position, destroying multiple drones as it did so. A few return shots connected, but before more significant firepower could be brought to bear, Lily fired off another volley of flares and vanished, reappearing on the other side of the drone sphere a moment later. Once again she took out several drones, but Ichika had plenty of reserves. Already, the ones destroyed by her first attack had been replaced, and once again Lily was quickly forced to fire off flares and retreat, reappearing a moment later near her previous position.

"Ichika, those aren't flares she's firing! I think those are beacons of some kind!" Ori exclaimed.

"Scan one and make sure." Ichika ordered, dodging another plasma blast and replacing the three drones it took out.

"Done. I was right, it is an IS deployment beacon." Ori replied a few seconds later.

"That was fast." Ichika commented as he returned fire.

"There wasn't much to ana-Look out!" Ori's warning came just as Lily fired off a barrage of teleport beacons directly at him. None made contact, but several passed within a few meters of the Infinite Arsenal. He dove as fast as possible, but he barely had a second before Lily appeared above him and scored a direct hit with her plasma cannon. She couldn't stay long, however, as a barrage of drone fire forced her to teleport away.

A moment later, she reappeared and fired off another barrage of beacons at him, but this time Ichika was ready. Every nearby beacon was now being monitored by the drones, and even before Lily finished her next teleport their guns were already firing. As soon as she reappeared, two plasma bolts hit home, and she teleported away to avoid further damage.

Once again, she appeared several kilometers away, firing off a burst of hurriedly-aimed particle beam fire before teleporting away and repeating the process. Plasma bolts flew to meet her, but she was always just fast enough to avoid them. However, aiming remained a problem for her, and Ichika was able to easily avoid what few shots she was able to send his way.

Then, his flag-carrying drone reached Habomai.

"Match Over! Archer Squadron Wins!" As soon as they heard the message, the gunfire and teleporting stopped. For a few moments both of their IS suits hovered in midair, Ichika taking the opportunity to catch his breath.

Then, Lily teleported once more, her IS reappearing a few meters away from his own.

"That was quite the fight, Ichika! Shame it had to end so suddenly." She spoke up, her helmet's speakers amplifying her voice.

"Likewise, Mallory-san. You're a good pilot." Ichika replied, leaving his opinion of her commanding skills unsaid.

"You're not that bad yourself! Maybe next time, we'll be able to see who's better." As she spoke, Ichika saw hundreds of small white flashes, and he realized that Lily had just stowed away all her teleport beacons, although he hadn't realized just how many she was able to deploy. Shrugging, he stowed his drones away as well.

"I'm looking forward to it. Now, do you need any help finding your teammates? Most of them went down in the ocean, after all." Lily shook her armored head at that.

"No, I've got them covered. Anyway, see you back on land!" As soon as she finished speaking, Lily teleported away, reappearing somewhere down below. Evidently, her squadmates all had beacons on their IS suits.

Seeing that his opponent didn't need any help, Ichika turned to look for Theresa, deploying several carrier drones as he did so. The drones went down to retrieve the turret, while he flew to where he had saw Theresa go down.

He found her face-down in the ocean, her ADS providing her with ample air while keeping her IS afloat.

"Why do I feel like I've missed one of the highlights of the tournament?" She asked as he pulled her disabled suit out of the water.

"Well... I don't think it was that impressive of a fight. I mean, my drone secured the flag before either of us won." Ichika replied.

"Wait, what? You mean she was able to take on our entire squadron?" Theresa exclaimed as they began the flight back to Cape Nosappu.

"She was able to take out everyone else in less than a minute. We weren't expecting her to be able to teleport like she did." He replied.

"Oh, so that's how she did it... But still, she was able to take out the rest of our squadron in so little time? She must be good!" Ichika nodded at that.

"She's a representative candidate for a reason... Honestly, I'm not sure if I would have been able to pull off some of the things she did."

"What? No way. I'll have to see it for myself, but I find that hard to believe." Theresa replied. In the distance, Ichika spotted a flight of instructors.

"I'll have to watch the replays as well." He replied.

Soon, they arrived at Cape Nosappu. He immediately recognized Charlotte in the crowd, her presence indicating that another bus had arrived. He set Theresa's Blank Slate down before landing beside it. Already, several technicians were running up with a thick cable, which they promptly plugged into his squadmate's IS.

He wasn't sure of the exact logistics involved, but somehow IS Academy had managed to link an IS charging station over one thousand kilometers away to their wireless power grid through a combination of wireless relay stations and existing superconductor lines. This made recharging disabled Blank Slates for stowage an easy process.

Charlotte ran up to him as soon as the Infinite Arsenal was stowed away. Several other girls followed behind her.

"That was incredible!" She exclaimed, a sentiment clearly echoed by the rest of the girls present.

Lily landed a moment later, dropping her squadmate off and stowing her own IS. Evidently, the battle had given her a few fans of her own, as she was promptly mobbed by several other girls.

"Please clear the landing zone! I repeat, everyone off the landing zone!" That quickly caused the small crowd to disperse, the girls heading back to rejoin their squadrons. Ichika walked back to the theater pavilion with Charlotte, who seemed to be unsure of what to say.

"So, are you looking forward to your own match?" He finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah! Not sure what to expect, but I'm definitely looking forward to it! Although I'm not sure if I'll be able to win if my opponent starts teleporting around like Lily was..." Charlotte trailed off, thinking for a moment.

"I find it strange that you weren't trying to shoot down the beacons. I mean, your lasers would have been able to make short work of them." Ichika shrugged at that.

"I thought they were flares at first, and once I figured it out... Well, I'm still not sure how she was able to transition in and out of IS-space like she was. I mean, some nations have been researching ways to send living things through IS-space for years now, and every time they come out as... Well, from what I've read, those mice were liquefied in the process." Charlotte gagged a little at that.

"But how was Lily able to do it then?" She asked.

"I don't know, which is why the last thing I wanted to do was shoot a beacon and cause some sort of lethal chain reaction that traps her in IS-space or spits her out in a not-so-solid state." He replied.

"I see, I see, can we please change the subject?" Charlotte exclaimed. Ichika gave a short laugh at that, earning him a glare from the French girl.

"Alright, alright! So, what about your IS? I take it there weren't any issues with installing the upgrade package?" He asked.

"It's better than ever! It handles even better than before, the new weapons are amazing, and if I push it hard enough I can almost break the sound barrier!" As she spoke, the rest of the instructors returned, carrying with them the rest of Ichika and Lily's squadrons. Meanwhile, the next two squadrons had deployed their IS suits and were waiting for the signal to launch. Finally, the three whistles sounded out and they took off.

A few minutes later, the pre-battle footage began to play and Ichika did a double-take when he saw the first of the competing squadrons. For starters, they did not have a corporate sponsor, but that hadn't stopped them from arming their Blank Slates anyway. It was also immediately clear that whoever had designed and built the weapons for those suits had no experience working with modern weaponry, and thus decided to go primitive instead. That was the only reason he could think of to justify the presence of what looked to be twenty-barreled percussion-cap muskets crudely bolted onto each Blank Slate's left arm. In the other hand, they carried equally primitive melee weapons, namely medieval-looking spiked maces.

"Over Habomai, we have Squadron 087!" The announcer spoke up.

Then, the camera switched to the other squadron, which also lacked a sponsor. Unlike their opponents, they had not armed their IS suits.

"And over Shikotan, we have Squadron 053!" The camera lingered over the unarmed squadron for a few moments, then the announcer called out the start of the match.

Both squadrons went low, clearly intending to rush the island. They reached it at approximately the same time.

"Prepare to fire!" The 087 Leader called out as they changed course. Both squadrons were now charging each other, the flag forgotten down below.

"Aim!" The command came when the two squadrons were barely two hundred meters apart.

"FIRE!" The command came a few moments later, the targets having charged into point-blank range. Four of the twenty-barreled monstrosities discharged successfully, generating a thick cloud of smoke in the process. The fifth exploded, although the IS holding it was still active afterwards.

Then, the melee began, as fists met improvised weaponry. Squadron 087's weapons broke within the first minute, turning the brawl into a fist-fight. Several minutes in, one of Squadron 053's pilots found the flag, only to turn and rush back into battle with it, wielding it like a polearm. Not even a minute later, its staff was bent at a right angle, and the disgusted pilot threw it like a boomerang. It bounced off its target's shield, and was promptly picked up. Its new user disengaged and bent the staff back into a roughly straight shape and returned to battle.

Squadron 087 eventually won the battle, although it was a close fight. Right before the cameras cut out, the sole surviving member of the squadron raised the flag, which had been bent in three different places, to the sky in a gesture of victory.

"Ichika, I just had a brilliant idea." Theresa spoke up as the match ended. He turned to her, a curious expression on his face.

"Well, you know how those two squadrons didn't have much in the way of weaponry, right?" Ichika nodded.

"Right, so I've been wondering, can your Infinite Arsenal build weapons and then transfer them to a different IS though an equalizer unit?" Ichika nodded, somewhat hesitantly. He had done so with Charlotte right before their match with Laura all those months ago.

"Yes, it can... Wait a minute, are you saying-"

"Yes! We can use your IS to build weapons for Blank Slates, transfer them to equalizers, and then sell them to unarmed squadrons!" Theresa cut him off.

"Where will we get the Equalizers..." Ichika trailed off. He answered his own question at the same time as Theresa did.

"Each squadron was given a set amount of empty equalizer units along with their Blank Slates, so it wouldn't cost us anything! Everyone wins! They get the weapons they need, and we get money and something cool to put on our resume!" She exclaimed.

"You do realize that, as the engineer of this squadron, I will be the one who has to do all the actual design work, right?" Ichika asked.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Not to mention that, in addition to weapons, I would have to design chassis overhaul packages for Blank Slates in order to support those weapons, complete with impulse drives, shield generators and control systems, right?" Ichika continued.

"I know, but-"

"And finally, we will need to devote a significant amount of time to actually running the store, which will take away from our squadron's practice time."

"Please? I can design, build and run whatever store we get!" Theresa begged, giving him her best attempt at puppy-dog eyes."

"Yeah! It will be like a club! We can do clubs, right?" Sakura joined in. Ichika looked at the two of them for a long moment, before sighing.

"Fine."

"Yay!" Sakura cheered.

"Alright, we're in business! Capitalism, here we come!" Theresa exclaimed.

All the while, Charlotte watched the proceedings with a curious expression.

"Why do I feel like I just made a huge mistake?" Ichika asked.

"Probably because you did." She replied.

Before Ichika could respond, an unfamiliar girl approached them.

"Are you Charlotte Dunois?" She asked.

"Yes, and you are?" Charlotte replied, standing and extending her hand. The other girl shook it.

"I'm Leang Halim, representative of Indonesia. It's nice to finally meet you." She replied. In the distance, Ichika spotted the first returning IS.

"Ah, it's nice to meet you too! Do you know when our match is coming up?" Charlotte asked, although she obviously already knew the answer.

"Yes, there are two squadrons ahead of us. Don't expect me to go easy on you though!" Ichika turned away as the two girls continued to talk, choosing instead to watch the IS suits returning from their match.

"Attention! The next bus to the hotel is leaving in ten minutes! If you have already fought, please check your IS suit's charge and stow it away if possible!" At that, the girls who had already fought let out an audible sigh of relief as they stood. Some, having already stowed their IS suits away, ran for the heated bus while others, his own squadmates included, ran to where their Blank Slates stood at the charging station.

Ichika chose to head for the bus, finding himself an empty seat near the back. He didn't remain its sole occupant for long, however, as Lily soon sat down beside him.

"You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" She asked a moment later.

"No, not at all. Go ahead." He replied. For a few moments, neither of them spoke. Then, Ichika asked the obvious question.

"Aren't you cold?" He asked. Indeed, while Lily had picked up her jacket, she had elected to sling it over her shoulder rather than put it on, leaving her with only a ridiculously thin pilot suit to protect her from the cold. She looked at him for a few moments, before laughing.

"It doesn't look particularly warm, does it? Believe me, the early models were even worse. Still, the cold's never really bothered me for some reason. Plus, I have my suit's climate shield." She replied.

"That does tend to keep the wind off, at least. Still doesn't do much about the cold, which is why having a heated suit is so nice. Anyway, enough about pilot suits. How are you finding IS Academy?" Ichika asked.

"Everything's been pretty fine so far. It's certainly not like it was back in RepCamp, that's for sure!" Lily replied.

"RepCamp? What's that?" Ichika asked.

"Oh, that's what we called the Stratospec Industries building where we were evaluated and trained. Back there it was all practice and drill and testing, then more practice and more testing followed by drill... You get the picture. Boring stuff." Lily explained.

"It seemed to have worked though. You're no pushover, that's for sure." Ichika replied.

"Meh, it's not like I was some sort of prodigy who blew everyone else there out of the water. Sure I was pretty good, but there were some girls who tested higher, others who shot straighter... Pretty much the only thing I was top in was reflexes, and as it turned out that was what Stratospec was looking for..." Lily trailed off before giving a short laugh.

"It certainly surprised us. I know at least one girl threw a tantrum when I got the position despite her scoring five points higher than me on damn near every other test."

"Ah... Well, it certainly wasn't like that for me. I just stumbled into a half-finished IS, turned it on by accident, and put a few dents in the floor when I started walking. It all just snowballed from there." Lily laughed again at that.

"I take it that the training afterward was pretty intense? It must have been, to get you into such good fighting shape in only a few months!"

"It wasn't as hard as it could have been. I mean, what with how I was using an IS I'd played a critical role in designing, learning its ins and outs wasn't as hard as it could have been. As for the rest, an abnormally high compatibility score and a good teacher made it pretty easy." Ichika replied.

"Oh? Must have been quite the compatibility score then! What was it, if you don't mind me asking?" Ichika shrugged at that question.

"The first test I had put me at one hundred and fifty six." Lily choked at that.

"W-What? That's impossible! M-Kaitlyn only had ninety seven when she started, and she was the top of my training group! I've been training for over a year now, and my score's just passed the one hundred mark!" Now it was Ichika's turn to laugh.

"Well, it's probably something I share with my sister. I mean, the last time I checked she had broken the six hundred mark, and my latest test put me at an even two-forty." He replied.

"W-Well, I-If I ever need super-human IS-pilot babies, I know where to go!" Lily replied, before blushing beet-red a moment later, evidently realizing what she had just said.

"Ah! F-Forget I said that!" She exclaimed, before looking away in embarrassment. Ichika didn't reply, having been equally embarrassed.

"A-Anyway, what kind of training did you go through? For me, it was mostly evasion training, as well as learning how to use the teleport beacons on the Blazing Phoenix." Lily finally spoke up, sounding eager to change the subject.

"Well, you certainly mastered that bit. I mean, you were dodging gunfire from less than five hundred meters away." Lily looked away at that, although Ichika caught the smile on her face. Evidently, she was proud of her skill.

"As for me, my instructors focused on making me learn through adversity. That meant flying in ace pilots and letting them have their way with me until I was able to hold out on my own." Ichika finished, continuing with his very edited story of what he had actually gone through.

"That must have been hard." Lily replied.

"Oh it was, but it paid off." Lily looked pensive for a second, before sighing.

"It certainly did, didn't it? I just wish they'd given me some leadership training. Honestly, I have no idea what to do with my squadron sometimes... They probably hate me for it, after I got them all shot down in that match."

"Well, there is a three-week leadership and team-building session happening once this tournament is over. I believe there are still some open spots, so if you sign up now you should be able to participate without issue." Ichika replied.

"Hmm... Will you be there?" She asked.

"Of course! I was one of the first to sign up!" He replied.

"Well then, that will make it worth it no matter what! Where do I sign up?" She asked, giggling a little as she finished.

"It's on the IS Academy student site. Just look for upcoming events and you'll see it." Ichika replied.

"Thank you, I'll do it as soon as we get back to the hotel."

As time went on, the bus began to fill up as more girls boarded. Finally, it began to move.

Lily didn't speak much during the ride, and indeed seemed all too eager to head back into the hotel when they returned, pausing only to thank him again before rushing out of the bus. Evidently, she was serious about improving herself.

* * *

"Took you long enough. You missed quite the match!" Tatenashi greeted him as he walked into the hotel room that she shared with her younger sister. The rest of the room's occupants, namely Cecilia, Rin, Laura and Houki, looked up from the holographic display they were watching and waved to him.

"Oh, really?" He asked as he closed the door behind him.

"Yeah! One of the participants was teleporting all over the place, while the other was able to deploy and control literally a hundred drones to counter her. Lost some money when neither of them won." Tatenashi replied.

"So, who was your money on?" Ichika replied.

"Why, you of course! Did you really think I'd bet against you, Orimura-kun?" Tatenashi replied.

"Knowing you, you would have." Ichika laughed, before looking for a place to sit. A few moments later, he settled down on a free part of one of the beds, next to Kanzashi. Cecilia and Rin had both claimed the room's chairs, while Houki sat on Kanzashi's other side and Tatenashi quickly settled down behind her sister. Finally, Laura had evidently been put in charge of camera control as evidenced by her standing beside the display, her fingers on a small screen that showed the locations of the camera drones that were observing the match.

While every IS Academy student was able to watch the tournament on one of the many screens located in and around the hotel, they were merely watching the same footage as Ichika had seen at Cape Nosappu's impromptu movie theater. However, Cecilia had been able to use her position in the Alcott Foundation to get herself classified as a VIP, meaning that she got access to less filtered footage of the matches, along with camera control to allow her to view the match from a perspective of her choosing, rather than at the discretion of the streaming staff.

Now that he thought about it, Ichika could have done the same given how he was technically also an engineer on WSI's payroll. However, he quickly discarded the thought as it would only bring his sister more headaches, not to mention that there was no need.

The currently ongoing match had just had its first exchange of fire take place, with both sides firing off their missiles. However, only one side had countermeasures, and the battle was decided a few seconds later, when one squadron had four of its members go down while the other released flares and chaff, avoiding most of the incoming missiles. The sole survivor made a run for the flag, but she did not get far before her opponents shot her down. Ichika made a note to add basic anti-missile countermeasures to the list of things to make.

"Well, that can't be good for their sponsor." Rin remarked as the feed cut out.

"It's not really good for either company involved. One had their entire squadron shot down in less than thirty seconds thanks to an obvious oversight, while the other hasn't been able to adequately demonstrate its capabilities." Cecilia replied.

"Well, at least the next match won't be like this. Charlotte is a capable fighter and she's going up against another squadron led by a representative candidate." Laura commented, changing the subject.

"So, any idea of what her Revive's upgrades are? I mean, she has been keeping them secret from us so far." Cecilia said.

"Like you're one to talk. You still won't tell me what your Azure Rain package has in it." Rin griped.

"I already told you, it's technology originally meant for the Silent Zephyrs that was modified for the Blue Tears after the Zephyrs was stolen." Cecilia replied.

"That tells us absolutely nothing." Houki deadpanned.

"She has a point. The Silent Zephyrs was kept secret while it was being constructed, and even now only the bare minimum information on it was released to the public. I somehow doubt that the details of in-development weaponry were shared." Ichika added.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to make it a surprise! Plus, you'll all see it soon enough. I am competing tonight, after all!" Cecilia replied.

The next match began approximately ten minutes later, and Laura briefly connected to the normal stream in order to hear the announcer.

"Starting over Habomai we have Squadron 104, Wasp Squadron, sponsored by Splitwire Electronics!" The camera panned over the squadron in question as she spoke. They were a rather diverse group, bearing five different flags on the right shoulders of their IS suits, although on their left they all bore the logo of Splitwire Electronics. In terms of armaments, their suits seemed almost all oriented towards ranged combat, with the notable exception of the Blank Slate with the German flag on its shoulder. That one was armed with a large sword, and was protected by a trio of shield drones that were almost certainly identical in function to the ones possessed by an Uchigane.

"And starting over Shikotan we have Squadron 003, Les Belles Furies! Their sponsor is Aero Infini Industries!" The camera switched just as the announcer mangled the French pronunciation, revealing Charlotte's squadron once more and giving Ichika his first good look at Charlotte's upgraded Raphael Revive.

The first thing he noticed were the four bulky pods that protruded from her wings, each one having two ordinance rails attached to the back half of its upper face. For the moment, those rails were occupied by missiles, but the existence of rails as opposed to more specialized launchers implied the capability to carry other ordinance. In addition, each pod appeared to contain two internalized guns, their barrels just barely protruding from the curved front of the pod. While he had no way of measuring their caliber, they seemed very large, with Ichika's guess being around forty millimeters.

The pods also appeared to have small impulse drives mounted in their rear, although the camera did not give him a good view of them.

Next, Ichika's gaze drifted lower to Charlotte herself. She was now equipped with a full suit of pilot armor in true Organization fashion, with the French flag emblazoned on her chestplate.

The final visible addition to the suit was that of a large module of some sort that was mounted on the Revive's left arm. Given how it was mounted on the forearm it could have been a shield of some kind, and it seemed to possess emitters of some kind all over its surface, but he ultimately could not pin down a solid function for the item.

The rest of Charlotte's squadron was mostly unchanged from when he had fought them during the eight-way practice match, but since then they had found time to repaint their IS suits in an orange tiger-stripe pattern. On one shoulder they bore the French flag, while on the other they wore the Aero Infini logo. Their armaments remained identical as well, as they still carried long twenty-five millimeter rifles with underbarrel shotguns. For close combat they carried a pair of short vibration-edged axes, and their wings bristled with missiles for engaging enemies at standoff range. Ichika also knew from experience that each suit carried a hidden canister of explosive gas.

All in all, both sides looked strong and ready for a fight.

"Now let the match... BEGIN!" At that announcement both teams sprang into action, and Laura adjusted the projector to display both squadrons in a split-screen configuration.

Charlotte's squadron began to ascend as one unit, coming to a halt just below the cloud layer. Evidently, they were confident enough in their luck to avoid getting hit by lightning. Her opponent, on the other hand, had elected to split her forces. Two of her IS suits, one of which bore an American flag and was armed with a large rifle of some sort, and the other carrying three triple-barreled rotary cannons and bearing a Japanese flag, began to climb into the clouds. The rest of the squadron, leader included, stayed below the clouds.

Evidently, Wasp squadron had the better sensors of the group as they were the first to spot their enemy.

"Ashley, Asaga, abort your climbs. All five of them are below the clouds, sending targeting data now." Leang's orders were immediately obeyed, with her two squadmates in the clouds immediately stopping their ascent and diving.

"Valentina, remember your job. Don't stop for anything, just secure us the flag. Trudy, keep her covered at all costs. I'm engaging in ten seconds." Leang continued, and her two low-flying companions promptly broke off, diving for Taraku-to.

"Three... Two... One... Engaging, targeting enemy squadron lead. Trudy, you're free to engage with the drone. "

"I'm being painted! It's... One contact, altitude is two kilometers, dead ahead!" Charlotte ordered. Leang fired a moment later, releasing a barrage of four missiles. A moment later, Wasp Squadron's missile drone opened fire, adding another two warheads to mix.

"I see two targets diving for the island! They're in range, locking on!" One of Charlotte's squadmates exclaimed as her leader reflexively dumped chaff and flares. She caught herself a moment later, realizing that those sorts of countermeasures would not work against laser-guided missiles.

Just as her squadmates were firing off their first missile volleys, Charlotte suddenly reversed direction. The missiles continued to track her, but just as they came close, the eight large caliber guns in her wing-pods opened fire. Evidently, instead of firing conventional shells, they were oversized, automatic shotguns. At such close range, the incoming missiles were shredded by the resulting cloud of shrapnel.

"I have a visual... It's the Tigress! Locking on!" Charlotte reported a moment later, giving a name to Leang's IS. Then, eight missiles flew off their rails towards their target. They made it halfway to her before two of them suddenly exploded.

"What was that?" Rin asked as another missile exploded.

"Hmm... Laura, can you change cameras to look at the two suits in the clouds?" Ichika asked. Laura nodded, and another screen appeared, this one displaying an infrared image of two IS suits. However, while one was relatively normal, the other glowed a bright white, with a long line of gold leading from her cannons down towards the battle below.

"Looks like a laser, probably infrared." Ichika mused as he looked back at the main battle. None of the missiles ended up reaching their target, but Charlotte had already fired off another eight, with eight more materializing on their launch rails.

Below her, the rest of her squadron enjoyed a numerical advantage against the two diving suits from Leang's squadron, only one of which was capable of returning fire at all. However, she was far from defenseless, as her squadmate in the clouds was able to take out a portion of the missiles heading for them, and the rest were intercepted by armor drones. However, one such drone was evidently damaged in such an interception, and it fell out of the sky.

In total, out of a total of twenty four missiles fired at them, five were shot out of the sky by lasers, four more were taken care of by drones, and the rest made it through. However, before they could strike their target, the second IS in the pair, which bore a Russian flag and was armed with a shotgun and a shoulder-mounted cannon of some sort, made its move. Turning to face the oncoming warheads, she raised her shotgun and reversed direction. Suddenly, one of the missiles stopped dead in the air, and was promptly destroyed by a shotgun blast. One by one, she worked her way through the missile swarm, taking out a total of nine before they came too close. One hit her, but it was clearly not enough to break her shields. The other five had locked onto her squadmate, and while her remaining two armor drones managed to get between her and the blast, her shields still clearly took some damage. Surprisingly enough, the two armor drones were still flying as well.

"Engaging boost! Cover me!" With those words, Trudy's IS accelerated forward towards Charlotte's squadron, screening itself with one armor drone while leaving the other behind to defend its comrade. A few seconds later, a stream of tracers came out of the clouds, catching Charlotte's squadron by surprise, but doing little damage. Glancing over to the IS suits in the clouds, he saw that both were now firing. The first was still focused on the missile exchange between Charlotte and Leang, ensuring that it remained a stalemate and that both squadrons' TIS suits were tied up and unable to intervene in the Blank Slate battle. The second was firing as well, supporting her squadmate as she charged into melee range.

"Incoming! Smoke, now!" At that, the four IS suits scattered, hiding themselves behind a familiar cloud of chemical smoke. Ichika winced as the incoming IS flew right into it, believing it to be a simple smokescreen.

"Now!" There was a bright flash of light, and the camera shook a few seconds later.

"Shit! Trudy is down!"

"Damn. Valentina, continue with the objective. Asaga, switch targets to hostile Blank Slates and close in for better effect. I can handle Charlotte's missiles." Leang ordered. Charlotte's next missile volley went through without interference, but before she could fire again one of her squadmates' IS suits flashed as its shields took a severe beating from an invisible source. She went down a few seconds later.

"Loire is down! Those shots came from the clouds!" Upon hearing that, Charlotte immediately disengaged and shot skyward into the clouds.

"Ignore what I just said! Asaga, Ashley, Charlotte's coming for you and she looks angry! I'll cover Valentina, you two take care of her!" At that, Leang dove towards the battle below, placing herself between her squadmate and Charlotte's remaining squadron. She fired off one more quartet of missiles before deploying a pair of IS-sized SMGs, holding one in each hand as she shot towards her targets. Even before she opened fire, her missiles converged on one Blank Slate and took it down. Then, she was in the midst of Charlotte's two remaining squadmates, one gun pointed at each of them. They immediately attempted to gain some distance and were thus able to avoid the worst of the barrage, but their shields still sparked as bullets hit their mark. They returned fire, first with both shotgun and rifle, and then, once they had gained enough distance, with rifle alone.

Leang's squadmates, on the other hand, were having less luck against Charlotte. The bulky module on her Revive's wrist turned out to be a supplementary energy shield, which had expanded itself to screen most of its carrying unit and glowed a bright green as it absorbed both laser fire and bullets alike. Even worse, while they could not see it, infrared imaging showed that Charlotte had swapped out the missiles on her rails for new items, although the infrared failed to give a clear image of what they were.

When eight solid streams of tracers flew upwards a moment later, he learned that Charlotte's Revive was now capable of mounting up to eight rotary cannons with theoretically infinite ammunition. Asaga, the pilot of the suit armed with rotary laser cannons, didn't even have time to curse before her IS was blasted out of the sky.

"Asaga's down!" Those were the only words Ashley was able to say before Charlotte switched targets to her, the four pods swiveling slightly to track their new target. Charlotte didn't even stop firing, the tracer streams visibly walking over to their next target. Much like her comrade, Ashley went down a few moments later. Only then did Charlotte stop firing.

"Whoa..." Rin breathed as she watched events unfold.

"If you think that's great, just you wait until you see me perform tonight!" Cecilia replied.

"Look at the island. Valentina's found the flag." Kanzashi's words caused them to shift their attention to another screen, just in time to see the flag fly through the air, coming to a stop right in front of Valentina's IS. She promptly snatched it out of the sky and turned away.

"Charlotte! The last Blank Slate has the flag! She's disengaging! We'll tie up the Tigress!" Charlotte changed direction when she heard that. Where before she was descending to reinforce her two squadmates, now she had a different target in mind.

"Incoming!" Leang barely had enough time to warn her remaining squadmate before Charlotte burst through the clouds... And suddenly froze in midair. Her target did the same.

Charlotte's guns roared a moment later, but her shots almost immediately lost speed and tumbled towards the ocean below.

"Wait a minute... That's impossible! It's like she has an AIC!" Laura exclaimed.

"I don't think so. You can still move while you have your AIC up, but she doesn't seem to be able to do that." Kanzashi pointed out.

"Maybe it's a different device that has similar effects?" Houki suggested.

"Maybe..." Laura replied, her eyes fixed on the two motionless IS suits. Ichika, on the other hand, turned his attention to where Charlotte's two squadmates continued to run literal rings around Leang's Tigress, their shields being slowly but surely worn down by incoming fire. However, they were also scoring a few hits of their own, and it was clear that, while Leang would probably be able to take them both down, her shields would be severely drained in the process, making her easy prey for Charlotte.

As for Charlotte, she was still pinned in place by her opponent, but she had the advantage of possessing an IS core, while her opponent ran on batteries. Indeed, soon after he had that particular thought, Valentina realized the same and stopped her immobilizing attack, instead attempting to run for the island. However, Charlotte was faster and she quickly took her opponent down.

In the meantime, Leang had taken one of Charlotte's Blank Slates down, and the other suffered the same fate by the time Charlotte entered weapon range. Leang fell out of the sky a moment later, caught in a cloud of tracers from Charlotte's new guns.

"Well that was definitely a close one, but it looks like Les Belles Furies has won the match!" The announcer spoke a moment later, just before the stream cut out.

"Hmm... I think that's another one that we'll be going over to make our end of year highlight reel." Tatenashi mused.

"It definitely came pretty close. We need more matches like that, where both teams are evenly matched. I mean, it's not their fault, but watching unarmed Blank Slates, improvised hacks and shoddy tech going up against each other in curb-stomp matches gets boring pretty fast." Rin replied.

"I agree. It can't be fun to fight in them either, knowing that you are most likely about to be humiliated on camera, and in front of important VIPs as well!" Cecilia added.

"As the tournament progresses they should become less common. Eventually, the teams with poor equipment will be eliminated." Kanzashi commented.

"Still, it seems pretty unfair to match completely unarmed squadrons in baseline Blank Slates against squadrons like ours." Rin said.

"There aren't enough companies out there to sponsor every squadron, and it's not like there is a retail market for IS-scale weaponry. They can't just buy themselves guns, they have to either make them or get lucky with a sponsor." Cecilia replied.

"Funny you should mention markets for IS weaponry when one of my squadmates had a pretty interesting idea regarding that issue." Ichika began, drawing the attention of the room.

"Oh? And what was that idea?" Tatenashi asked.

"Well, she realized that there is a huge untapped market here at IS Academy, as well as the fact that her squadron leader had what basically amounts to a factory built into his IS. Putting two and two together, she came up with the idea of selling Blank Slate weapons and upgrades. After some consideration, I agreed." Ichika replied.

"But you're the only person on your team qualified to make IS equipment! That's going to... Wait, never mind." Kanzashi sighed as Ori shimmered into being beside her.

"It would normally be an impractically huge amount of work, but with my help we can get months of work done in a week." The AI replied.

"That's certainly true. I remember the two of you designing and building a functional laser rifle in a matter of days." Laura commented.

"Yeah, I remember that as well... It was just a few months ago, but it feels like years have passed since then." Houki added.

"It sure has..." Ichika replied, thinking back to when he had first entered IS Academy. Back then things had been simpler, but now? Looking around at the girls gathered in the hotel room, without any of the petty drama that had followed him during his first few months at the Academy, he smiled.

Things may have been simpler, yes, but now he had a circle of friends and comrades that he would not trade for the world, and he knew that they would stand by him no matter what the future held for them. Only two and a half years of IS Academy were left before they would join the fight against Phantom Task in earnest, but until that day came, he figured that he might as well enjoy the time he had.

"Say, Houki, you're the next one of us to go, right?" Rin asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, but I don't have to leave for a few hours. We'll probably have lunch before then." Houki replied.

"Well, when the time comes, we'll all be expecting a match like that one." Cecilia said.

"Yeah! Ichika and Charlotte have both had amazing matches, so we expect the same from you." Rin agreed.

"Well, then I'll be sure to not let you down." Houki replied, a smile on her face.

The next match started a few minutes later.

* * *

 **A/N: Here it is, finally finished. Needless to say, my plans of having every girl go in this chapter were definitely not practical. Ultimately, practicality means that I will probably give each member of the cast one nice, detailed fight, then gloss over the rest of their matches until we reach the later stages of the tournament, as that would ensure the better, later matches remain interesting and that the story does not stall out in terms of narrative progression. After all, tournament arcs are good for action, but often act as cruise control for plot progress.**

 **Now onto my commentary on the chapter. First and foremost, I have been waiting for AGES to finally showcase Lily's IS. It has gone over several iterations since I first came up with it, but one thing that has always stayed the same was its beacon-based teleportation. Originally, I would have had Ichika's squadron win through teamwork, but I ultimately decided that leaving things inconclusive would be better in the long run.**

 **Next up was the Charlotte vs. Leang fight. Leang, along with the rest of Wasp Squadron, are all creations of Warmach1ne32, with their squadron's equipment page being located on this fic's forum (Link is below). I would like to thank him, as it made writing the match significantly more interesting for me, and hopefully it would also make it more enjoyable to read. In my case, I actually had to consider the two squadrons' loadouts, how they would interplay with each other, the tactics employed by Wasp squadron versus my plan for Charlotte's Les Belles Furies (Please correct me if I mangled the French, as I am not a native French speaker nor have I ever learned the language), and ultimately I had to decide on a victor. Much more entertaining than simply flipping a coin and writing up a match that was pre-determined from the start using bare-bones disposable OCs and half-baked IS concepts. Indeed, that's part of the reason I'm planning on glossing over a large portion of the tournament, as it's really hard to think of an entertaining IS squadron lineup.**

 **Speaking of Charlotte, it's time to describe her upgrades! Her IS suit's Declassified Files entry will be updated to current specifications as soon as I have time. As for why I designed the upgrade the way I did, I chose to focus on the existing aspects of the Revive and build from there. Charlotte's Revive, and Revives in general, are stated to be very versatile multirole IS suits that can do pretty much anything if configured properly. As such, Charlotte's Revive was given an upgrade that not only boosted its somewhat lacking canon firepower, but also granted it the ability to utilize all sorts of ordinance. This includes the missiles and rotary cannons that I've showed in her battle, but it can also be expanded to include various air to ground munitions such as unguided rockets, ASMs, JDAMs, etc., thus making it significantly more useful in a real-world combat scenario. It also compensated for her suit's somewhat lacking close-quarters capability through the addition of a supplementary shield and four large-caliber automatic shotguns.**

 **If you are curious about the appearance of Charlotte's new IS, I personally imagined the Anime variant of her IS, but with several features of the Light Novel design integrated into it. These features were the four large pods on its wings (Judging by how stripped-down the novel design is, I would assume that those pods were meant to be engines of some sort, but those would be mostly redundant on Charlotte's existing unit and thus they are now gunpods), and the bulky shield unit on its left forearm. It also has pilot armor, because pilot armor is awesome.**

 **The final somewhat important detail brought up in this chapter was Theresa and co.'s new venture. I'm not going to lie, I came up with that idea partially because of just how many unarmed Blank Slate squadrons there were, which in turn would have meant a metric crapton of boring battles. For those who are curious, the numbers I ran indicate that there are 317 squadrons total, only 90 of which have a Rep. Candidate leading them. The rest are rather unappealing sponsorship choices, and those that do land sponsorships often get inferior equipment out of the deal. The result is a lot of boring, pointless battles between teams that are either equally underequipped, or are so uneven that the result is a curb-stomp. Theresa's idea was my way of ensuring that, in future tournaments (and there is at least one more planned in the current semester), all Blank Slates have a bare minimum of equipment that will ensure that they are able to perform competitively as opposed to just getting curb-stomped due to sheer disparity in equipment.**

 **Anyway, next chapter will most likely contain the Houki vs. Ioana and Cecilia vs. Lise battles, and maybe a few others depending on how the wordcount goes. I hope you all enjoyed what I've written of the tournament so far.**

 **As stated above, the FF extension to this fic's forum is:** **forum/Agent-Orimura-Discussion/195588/**


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